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Applied Materials Inc. has made its expected entry into the photomask inspection business, rolling out a tool based on a breakthrough aerial imaging technology. At the same time, rival KLA-Tencor Corp. has fielded a technology said to accomplish the same feat: It shows the defects on the wafer in mask inspection.
Applied, the world's largest chipequipment vendor, has also entered the photomask cleaning equipment sector with the introduction of a system that is said to enable damage-free reticles. The product counters the "haze effect" on the mask, according to Applied.
It was reported last month that Applied (Santa Clara, Calif.) has been quietly selling a mask inspection tool, dubbed Aera2. One customer, Intel Corp., has procured the machine for its captive mask shop, according to the reports.
Applied said the Aera2 combines several parts of the process-such as inspection, aerial imaging simulation and review-on the same platform, at two times the throughput of machines from market leader KLA-Tencor.
KLA-Tencor has dominated photomask inspection-the most expensive part of the mask-making process-for years. The company, which recently introduced a new mask inspection line, charges some $30 million or so for each tool, analysts said.
A number of companies forayed into the mask inspection business in recent years in hopes of knocking KLA-Tencor off its perch. But none was successful, leaving KLA-Tencor in the envious position of being the sole vendor in a critical market.
Now, however, KLA-Tencor appears to be getting some new and viable competition. Japan's NuFlare Technology Inc. recently fielded a mask inspection product and is making a dent in the market. On NuFlare's heels, Applied has entered the mask inspection market, which Gartner Inc. (Stamford, Conn.) pegged at...