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FEI Company and Surface/Interface Inc. Announce Strategic Partnership
HILLSBORO, Ore., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- FEI Company (Nasdaq: FEIC) and
Surface/Interface Inc. jointly announced today that they have entered into a
strategic relationship. FEI has purchased an equity interest of approximately
ten percent in Surface/Interface and obtained distribution sales and service
rights for Surface/Interface's Stylus NanoProfilometer metrology tool (SNP).
FEI also holds a warrant that would allow it to increase its total stake in
Surface/Interface up to 19.5 percent. The distribution agreement makes FEI the
exclusive North American and European distributor for the innovative SNP. Surface/Interface's Stylus NanoProfilometer is a strategic fit with FEI's
existing product line. It demonstrates FEI's commitment to delivering a full
spectrum of 3-D metrology solutions and moving 3-D critical dimension
measurement and analysis into the manufacturing process. The SNP is an
in-line, non-destructive metrology tool that delivers deep sub-micron, 3-D,
critical dimension surface topography information from wafers, photomasks and
other substrates with unsurpassed accuracy and precision. FEI's 3-D metrology
tools take process engineers below the surface of wafers and substrates,
allowing them to obtain profiles and CD measurements of buried features. "We are committed to providing FEI customers in the semiconductor market
with a comprehensive range of solutions to meet their needs," said
Vahe' A. Sarkissian, president and chief executive officer of FEI Company.
"Our industry-leading products, coupled with those of Surface/Interface, will
enhance FEI's 3-D process management leadership as semiconductor manufacturers
drive integrated circuit geometries through.25 um and.18 um and target 300mm
wafer production." "FEI was a natural choice for partnering with Surface/Interface,"
commented Bob Jaynes, vice president of marketing for Surface/Interface.
"Their position as product leaders in the IC equipment market and world class
support infrastructure will allow us to move the innovative Stylus
NanoProfilometer quickly into the mainstream. We look forward to working
closely with our partners at FEI." The SNP is available now with a selling price ranging from below
$1 million to $1.3 million, depending on customer specifications. Like FEI
products, it is targeted at the $37 billion semiconductor capital equipment
market, predicted to grow in excess of 20 percent in 2000.
About FEI Company FEI Company is a world leader in the design, manufacture, sale and support
of charged particle beam systems and components including scanning and
transmission electron microscopes (SEMs and TEMs) and focused ion beam (FIB)
and DualBeam™ (FIB/SEM) systems. FEI products serve customers in the
semiconductor, data storage, life science and material science markets. The
unique combination of FEI technologies enables customers to employ new
diagnostic, analytical, device modification and process management functions
to improve performance and reduce project time and costs. FEI is headquartered
in Hillsboro, Oregon and maintains product development and manufacturing
centers in the United States, The Netherlands and Czech Republic. More
information about FEI Company is available on FEI's Web site at
http://www.feic.com .
About Surface/Interface Surface/Interface Inc (S/II), Sunnyvale, California, is a capital
equipment supplier specializing in the design and manufacture of advanced
metrology and thin film measurement systems for production control and new
product development programs in the semiconductor, photomask and data storage
industries. The semiconductor industry has defined critical dimension measurement as a
defined critical path issue due to the accelerated decrease in line width
geometries on both wafers and photomasks. S/II's SNP (Stylus NanoProfilometer)
Metrology Systems can provide nanometer-scale, 3-dimensional surface
topography measurements, in a non-destructive manner, on conductive or
non-conductive substrates. S/II's TFA tools provide composition and thickness
information of carbon overcoats for the data storage industry. Except for the historical statements contained herein, the statements in
this news release concerning growth, new product development and margin
improvement involve risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially include, but are not limited to business
conditions in the electronics, life sciences and material sciences industries
and the general economy, both domestic and international; lower than expected
customer orders; competitive factors, including pricing pressures,
technological developments and products offered by competitors; technological
difficulties and resource constraints encountered in developing new products,
and the timely flow of competitive new products and market acceptance of those
products.
SOURCE FEI Company
Web site: http: //www.feic.com
CONTACT: Dan Zenka, APR, Corporate Communications Manager for FEI Company, 503-844-2695, or dzenka@feico.com; or Donna Bakale of Technical Marketing Programs, 408-737-0285, or donna@technicalmarketing.com
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