Applied Materials sets milestone: 500 Vantage RTP systems shipped to global customers

TOKYO, JAPAN: Applied Materials, Inc. announced today that it has shipped its 500th Applied Vantage rapid thermal processing (RTP) system, which is used by chipmakers worldwide for fabricating advanced memory and logic chips.

The Vantage system's robust, compact design and best-in-class anneal performance were quickly recognized by customers at its launch in 2002, propelling the platform to market leadership within two years - where it remains today.

According to market researcher Gartner Dataquest, Applied is the market leader in RTP technology, with the majority share in 2009 for lamp-based RTP applications. In addition to its Vantage RTP systems, Applied has more than 500 Centura RTP systems installed at customers worldwide - making Applied's RTP technology the industry's choice for manufacturing virtually every microchip in the last decade.

"The Vantage system demonstrates Applied's leadership in providing customers with the thermal processing technology that delivers the performance, productivity and reliability needed for successful chip manufacturing," said Sundar Ramamurthy, VP and GM of Applied's Front End Products division.

"We also continue to develop new RTP solutions for the Vantage platform, such as the groundbreaking Vantage Astra(TM) millisecond anneal technology that addresses critical transistor scaling challenges."

The Vantage architecture links two RadiancePlus, RadOx or Astra process chambers directly to an Applied factory interface to maximize productivity in minimal cleanroom space.

The system's unique flexibility allows customers to perform all lamp and laser-based thermal processing steps - millisecond, spike and soak anneals, plus multiple nitridation and oxidation applications - on the same production-proven platform. The entire system ships as one integrated unit, reducing installation time to less than 10 days.