October 22, 2004 – ADE Corp. has announced that a leading Japanese silicon wafer supplier has placed a multimillion dollar order for wafer geometry systems to further support its previously announced 300mm bare wafer production capacity expansion.

The order includes multiple WaferSight wafer flatness and multiple AFS systems for qualification and certification of critical wafer geometry parameters.

“The release of this repeat order from a leading wafer producer coincides with recent reports from VLSI Research and Gartner Dataquest projecting that the current 300mm wafer capacity expansion will continue over the next several years,” stated Dr. Chris L. Koliopoulos, president and CEO of ADE Corp.

The WaferSight wafer flatness system uses laser interferometry to achieve sub-nanometer precision and stability of wafer dimensional parameters. Used in production, WaferSight provides silicon manufacturers with better wafer dimensional control to support increased yields of fine-line geometry devices at leading-edge semiconductor fabs. The advanced WaferSight performance, with capabilities beyond the 45nm technology node, also enables next-generation wafer development and production.

ADE’s Advanced Flatness System is the standard production dimensional measurement tool for 300mm silicon, epi, SOI, SiGe and reclaimed wafers at the 130nm technology node and above.