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Applied Materials Receives Orders Worth Over $45 Million from Tower Semiconductor
Monday October 21, 7:30 am ET
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 2002--Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT - News) today announced it received orders for chipmaking equipment worth more than $45 million from Tower Semiconductor Ltd., an independent wafer-foundry located in Migdal Haemek, Israel.
Tower plans to use the equipment for the production of 0.18 micron and 0.13 micron CMOS digital logic, mixed signal, flash memory and image sensor devices in its new Fab 2 facility. When Fab 2 is complete, Tower plans to offer 0.18 micron and below process technologies, produce up to 33,000 200mm wafers per month and employ approximately 1,100 people.

Ron Niv, Tower Semiconductor Fab 2 manager, commented, "The choice of Applied Materials to support our manufacturing capability is based on the company's product excellence and outstanding customer support. The equipment installed in our pilot line met our performance criteria and demonstrated that Applied Materials' exceptional process technologies will allow us to fabricate our customers' most complex designs."

Tower Semiconductor's order specified multiple PVD (physical vapor deposition), RTP (rapid thermal processing), etch, HDP-CVD (high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition), WCVD (tungsten chemical vapor deposition), SACVD (sub-atmospheric chemical vapor deposition), wafer inspection and defect review systems.

Dr. Ashok K. Sinha, senior vice president, Applied Materials Silicon Business Sector Products, commented, "These orders represent a continuation of our close relationship with Tower Semiconductor, and we are pleased to participate in the company's success. Applied Materials is committed to providing advanced technologies that enable companies like Tower to support chipmakers' future requirements."

Tower Semiconductor Ltd., a pure-play independent wafer manufacturer, provides design support, manufacturing and turnkey services for integrated circuits (ICs) on silicon wafers in geometries from 1.0 to 0.18 micron. Fab 2 features advanced CMOS technology licensed from Toshiba Corporation (NIKKEI:TSE), as well as foundry-standard technology, which is applicable to digital, mixed-signal, CMOS image-sensor and flash memory processes. Tower maintains a Web site at www.towersemi.com.

Applied Materials (Nasdaq:AMAT - News), the largest supplier of products and services to the global semiconductor industry, is one of the world's leading information infrastructure providers. Applied Materials enables Information for Everyone(TM) by helping semiconductor manufacturers produce more powerful, portable and affordable chips. Applied Materials' Web site is http://www.appliedmaterials.com.