June 14, 2005 – Ultratech Inc. has announced that it has received multiple-system orders from several southeast Asian customers for its NanoTech 190 lithography systems. The NanoTech 190 tools, specifically designed for thin-film head (TFH) applications, will be utilized for back-end rowbar processing — the processing step required to add the aerodynamic surface to rows of TFH devices before wafer singulation.

The lithography systems will be delivered to the customers’ facilities located in Malaysia, Thailand, and China.

Doug Anberg, Ultratech’s VP of advanced stepper technology, noted, “The increase in our customers’ order activity is driven by the volume increase in mini-drives. The high consumer demand for digital music players and other small devices with hard drives is escalating the need for steppers that can process the thin-film heads that read and write on small-format hard drives.”