Applied Materials intros new era of smart, productive chip manufacturing with Centris etch system

TOKYO, JAPAN: Applied Materials, Inc. today begins a new era in chip manufacturing with its powerful Applied Centris AdvantEdge Mesa Etch, the smartest, fastest silicon etch system ever made for the volume production of the world's most advanced memory and logic chips.

Featuring an unprecedented eight process chambers - six etch and two plasma clean chambers - the compact Centris system can process up to 180 wafers per hour, lowering the per-wafer cost by up to 30 percent.

Proprietary system intelligence software assures every process on every chamber precisely matches, delivering angstrom-level uniformity on every wafer - a critical requirement for high yield in tomorrow's highly-complex chip designs.

"The new Centris platform is a game-changer for silicon etch, one of the fastest growing segments in the industry, as more and more critical etch steps are required to create the ultra-small circuit features of advanced microchips," said Ellie Yieh, vice president and general manager of Applied's Etch Division.

"The combination of our new Centris platform with our world-class AdvantEdge Mesa technology exemplifies how our customer-focused product innovation is helping Applied gain momentum across multiple etch market applications."

The Applied Centris AdvantEdge Etch system also blazes a new path in green processing. Delivering typical annual savings in power, water and gas consumption equivalent to 600,000 pounds of CO2 emissions compared to currently available silicon etch systems[1], the Centris system can help chipmakers lower operating costs and support their sustainable manufacturing initiatives.