SAN JOSE, Calif., -- December 02, 2007 -- KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) today introduced the WaferSight 2, the semiconductor industry's first metrology system that enables wafer suppliers and chipmakers to measure bare wafer flatness, shape, edge roll-off and nanotopography in a single system with the high precision and tool matching required for 45nm and beyond. With industry-leading flatness and nanotopography precision, plus improved tool-to-tool matching, WaferSight 2 enables leading-edge production of next-generation wafers by wafer suppliers, and higher confidence of incoming wafer quality control for IC makers.

Studies by leading lithography system suppliers have shown that slight variations in wafer flatness can consume as much as 50% of the critical lithography depth of focus budget at 45nm. Building on the market leadership of KLA-Tencor's WaferSight 1 system, the fast and accurate 45nm-generation flatness measurement capability of the WaferSight 2 system can help both wafer makers and IC companies by enabling tighter flatness specifications for bare wafers, helping chipmakers overcome depth of focus challenges.

"At 45nm and beyond, variations in wafer flatness, shape and surface topography can have a more severe impact on process windows and yield for lithography and other manufacturing processes," said Jeff Donnelly, vice president of Growth and Emerging Markets at KLA-Tencor. "With improved optics and measurement isolation that enable higher resolution, matching and precision compared to the previous ADE Wafersight 1 system, the new WaferSight 2 helps wafer makers dramatically tighten their manufacturing specs to meet 45nm requirements, and also permits chipmakers to measure incoming wafers in order to ensure process quality for manufacturing. At the same time, the system's productivity reduces operating cost and improves efficiency."

Nanotopography control has become critical at the 45nm node because it is a cause of reduced process margin in CMP and can cause CD variation in lithography. The new WaferSight 2 provides industry-leading nanotopgraphy measurement performance with improvements in precision. It also is the first to measure both frontside and backside nanotopography in a single, non-destructive measurement.

By combining flatness and nanotopography in one system, the WaferSight 2 enables shorter cycle times, reduced WIP queuing and move times, smaller footprint, and more efficient facilities usage compared to multiple tool solutions. WaferSight 2 can also be seamlessly combined with KLA-Tencor's fab data management system FabVision ®, creating a package that enables offline analysis of archived or current metrology data, with fully customized charts and reports.

Christophe Maleville, vice president, SOI Products Platform at Soitec , a beta site partner for the WaferSight 2, said, "Our evaluation of the WaferSight 2 system demonstrated class-leading performance for all of the tool's measurement modes, with excellent long-term reproducibility and measurement stability. The system's advanced capabilities make it suitable for 45nm-generation production; Wafersight 2 has shown excellent reliability during the evaluation beta period and in production. This metrology system has been accepted for silicon and SOI production, and Soitec will make WaferSight 2 a key system for wafer geometry metrology going forward" (still pending approval…)

About KLA-Tencor: KLA-Tencor is the world leader in yield management and process control solutions for semiconductor manufacturing and related industries. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the Company has sales and service offices around the world. An S&P 500 company, KLA-Tencor is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol KLAC. Additional information about the Company is available at http://www.kla-tencor.com .

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                                              WaferSight 2 Technology Summary

Importance of flatness, edge roll-off and nanotopography measurements in IC processing

Flatness

Advanced lithography optics shrink depth of focus to 100-150nm at the 45nm node. Reduced depth of focus reduces leeway for flatness variations on the wafer, so wafer flatness and shape parameters must be more tightly controlled for each smaller technology node. The WaferSight 2 can be certified for 45nm production because of its sub-nm flatness gauge precision and a 200% tool-to-tool matching improvement over the WaferSight 1. This industry-leading performance can help wafer manufacturers increase yield; it also reduces chipmakers' uncertainty and risk with incoming wafers.

Edge roll-off

Geometric consistency at the near-edge region of a wafer (defined as occurring within a distance of 1mm to 5mm from the edge) is a new challenge in manufacturing due to various processing variations near the edge, as compared to the center of a wafer. The resulting shape or thickness variation is described as edge roll-off (ERO). It can significantly affect lithography focus control at the outermost fields and CMP consistency in the area.

WaferSight 2's ERO measurement provides the accurate data needed to help control the effects of edge roll-off on die yield at the margins of the wafer. Angular ERO variation can be quantified using WaferSight 2; variations between wafer suppliers, between wafers and within-wafer are evident in ERO data. This ERO variation can affect edge film thickness uniformity in CMP, so c ontrolling wafer ERO is becoming critical in achieving desired CMP performance.

Nanotopography

Nanotopography is the nanometer-level height variation on a wafer, measured across an area of approximately 2 to 10mm. The ITRS roadmap notes that since nanotopography may be only nanometers from peak to valley, nanotopography accuracy can be affected by chuck effects on the measurement system. WaferSight 2 eliminates chuck effects by using a full edge-grip wafer handing system, capturing artifact-free nanotopography data from the front and backsides of the wafer in the same scan as it acquires flatness and edge-roll off data.

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Contact:
Meggan Powers
Director Corporate Communications