Novellus Systems Inc. (NVLS), based in San Jose, California, is a supplier of chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), electrochemical deposition (ECD), chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), ultraviolet thermal processing (UVTP) and surface preparation equipment used in the manufacturing of semiconductors. These products are used to deposit extremely thin films of insulating and conductive materials used to create the wiring on a chip. The company, founded in 1984, manufactures products in San Jose; Portland, Oregon; and Chandler, Arizona with sales offices in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Southeast Asia.

In May, the company announced two new dry strip and clean systems that target different photoresist removal requirements at fabs and foundries worldwide. A photoresist is a substance that can be made to form a tough film by a photographic process, used to mask electrical circuits before chemical etching. Two of the company’s products, the G400™ and GxT™, are built upon Novellus’ GAMMA® platform. The new tools address high throughput and low defectivity requirements for flash, DRAM and logic applications. Both systems have shipped to customers, with the first G400 going to a large Asian memory manufacturer and the GxT placed at multiple large foundries in Asia.

According to Kevin Jennings, vice president and general manager of Novellus’ Surface Integrity Group, the need for tools like the G400 and GxT has increased as IC manufacturing becomes more complex. The company’s products have been optimized to meet those needs. He further stated that the introduction of these tools will further extend the company’s leadership in the market for strip and clean systems.

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