31.10.2000 16:56:00 CET

ASM International and Philips confirm 70 NM technology with atomic layer CVD™

BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands, October 30, 2000 - ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq: ASMI and AEX: ASM) and Philips N.V. (NYSE: PHG) have produced what is believed so far to be the thinnest gate dielectric with commercially acceptable leakage current. ASM and Philips have been able to demonstrate an electrically insulating layer stack with a thickness comparable to only four to five atoms silicon oxide.

The insulating qualities of this ultra thin layer are almost one million times better than silicon oxide. Such thin electrically insulating layer stacks are required for the production of 70 nanometer (nm)(one billionth of a meter) devices. The thin insulating layer with 1.1 nm effective thickness was deposited with Atomic Layer CVD™, a technique developed by ASM Microchemistry Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of ASM International.

“To produce such ultra thin layers, we had to change from silicon oxide to a layer consisting of three elements: zirconium, aluminum and oxygen. Our Pulsar™ Atomic Layer CVD system with its ability to control both composition and thickness on an atomic level proved to be critical to achieve this exciting result”, said Ivo Raaijmakers, Chief Technology officer of ASMI’s Front-End operations. Mart Graef, department head of the Semiconductor Process Modules group at Philips Research Laboratories in the Netherlands further commented: “This is a key process step in advanced silicon technology. It will enable the manufacturing of devices with a much higher performance than the ones currently in production”.

Royal Philips Electronics is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 31.5 billion in 1999. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, color picture tubes for televisions and monitors, and one-chip TV products. Its 232,433 employees (end June 2000) in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, medical systems, and IT services (Origin). Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges.

About ASM


ASM International is headquartered in Bilthoven, the Netherlands. ASM International’s subsidiaries design, develop, manufacture and market equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International and its subsidiaries provide production solutions for the wafer processing, assembly and packaging segments through their facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia. ASM International’s common shares trade on NASDAQ National Market under the symbol “ASMI” and on the AEX Stock Exchange under the symbol “ASM”. More information on ASM can be found on its website at http://www.asm.com

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Contact:
Yinka Massally
Public Relations
+1 602-470-5829
yinka.massally@asm.com

MaryJo Dieckhaus
Investor Relations
+1 212-986-2900
ddandw@compuserve.com

Annemiek van Gijn
Public Relations
+ 31-30-2298411
annemiek.van.gijn@asm.com