Nova Revolutionizes Materials Characterization for Optical CD
New Package Significantly Reduces Time to Solution From Days to Several Hours and Improves Optical CD Measurement Quality
REHOVOT, Israel, June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nova Measuring
Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVMI) provider of leading edge stand-alone
metrology and the market leader of integrated metrology solutions to the
semiconductor process control market, today announced the launching of
MatMaker(TM), a Product-Driven Materials Characterization package which
revolutionizes one of the most critical elements of Optical CD measurement.
Last week the Company announced all time record orders for its stand-alone
Optical CD product and the addition of the MatMaker(TM) Package is intended
to further solidify the Company's position in the market.
Spectral Optical CD technologies need material optical properties
(spectral n&k) to interpret the optical spectrum into a profile measurement.
Until today the industry standard was to measure material properties on
blanket wafers, layer by layer, a process that takes from days to more than a
month, well in advance of actual Scatterometry application development. In
addition to the obvious drawbacks of significant plan-ahead and time
investment, this method could not account for material changes that occur
during wafer processing, changes that affect material properties and the
accuracy of the final measurement.
Nova's novel technology eliminates this step-by-step method. It
capitalizes on proprietary breakthrough algorithms for enhancing the
sensitivity of Scatterometry measurements, directly utilizing Scatterometry
targets on the product wafer to determine the optical properties of the
various constituent materials together with the geometrical profile
parameters. Multiple film depositions on blanket wafers are no longer needed
as a prerequisite for Scatterometry applications development, and any and all
process-induced changes to materials optical properties can now be uniquely
and accurately captured inside the Scatterometry model.
"At advanced technology nodes we see a rapid increase in Optical CD
deployment and CD-SEM replacement" said Gabi Seligsohn, President and CEO of
Nova. "This new technology, based on software algorithms and tools refined by
our applications developers for the past 10 years, changes the way spectral
Optical CD is deployed in fabs, significantly reducing application
development time and cost while at the same time increasing the measurement
accuracy. I see our new technology as a driver to further proliferation of
Nova's Optical CD solutions not only to existing users of Optical CD but also
to areas deploying other types of metrology".
The MatMaker(TM) Package is available as an option to the latest version
of NovaMARS Applications Development Software.
About Nova: Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. develops, produces and
markets advanced integrated and stand alone metrology solutions for the
semiconductor manufacturing industry. Nova is traded on the NASDAQ & TASE
under the symbol NVMI. The Company's website is http://www.nova.co.il.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 relating to future events or our future performance, such as statements
regarding trends, demand for our products, expected deliveries, transaction,
expected revenues, operating results, earnings and profitability.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity,
performance or achievements to be materially different from any future
results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied
in those forward looking statements. These risks and other factors include
but are not limited to: unanticipated consequences of the global economic
crisis, our dependency on a single integrated process control product line;
the highly cyclical nature of the markets we target; our inability to reduce
spending during a slowdown in the semiconductor industry; our ability to
respond effectively on a timely basis to rapid technological changes; risks
associated with our dependence on a single manufacturing facility; our
ability to expand our manufacturing capacity or marketing efforts to support
our future growth; our dependency on a small number of large customers and
small number of suppliers; risks related to our intellectual property;
changes in customer demands for our products; new product offerings from our
competitors; changes in or an inability to execute our business strategy;
unanticipated manufacturing or supply problems; changes in tax requirements;
changes in customer demand for our products; risks related to currency
fluctuations; and risks related to our operations in Israel. We cannot
guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.
The matters discussed in this press release also involve risks and
uncertainties summarized under the heading "Risk Factors" in Nova's Annual
Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31,2008 filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2009. These factors are
updated from time to time through the filing of reports and registration
statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Nova Measuring
Instruments Ltd. does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking
information contained in this press release.
Company Contact:
Dror David, Chief Financial Officer
Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd.
Tel: +972-8-938-7505
E-mail: info@nova.co.ilhttp://www.nova.co.il
Investor Relations Contacts:
Ehud Helft / Kenny Green
GK Investor Relations
Tel: +1-646-201-9246
info@gkir.com
