December 1, 2004

Gigaphoton Introduces Its New "G41K+" Laser
Upgraded Version of G40K Series of KrF Excimer Lasers
Greatly Enhanced Emission Efficiency

SEMICON JAPAN, Chiba, Japan—December 1, 2004 — Gigaphoton Inc. (Headquarters: Oyama-shi, Tochigi-ken, Japan; President and Representative Director: Dr. Yuji Watanabe, http://www.gigaphoton.com/), a major lithography light source manufacture for the world semiconductor industry, today announced that the company has developed and started marketing a new product: the "G41K+" model of its G41K series of KrF (Krypton Fluoride) excimer lasers. The "G41K+" is an upgraded model of the "G41K” 4-kHz KrF excimer laser marketed in 2003. The new "G41K+" (emission wavelength of 248 nm, repetition rate of 4000 Hz) features greatly improved emission efficiency, and totally improved and prolonged life of major consumables (modules), thus achieving a great reduction of running cost.

"The G41K+ model of KrF excimer laser has dramatically enhanced durability that will make a great contribution to lower the CoO of our customers," commented Dr. Yuji Watanabe, President and Representative Director, Gigaphoton Inc. "It also features high output, and can be upgraded from the current G41K at your site. We will continue to strive to propose the technologies that can best meet the ever-diversifying needs of customers."

Main Features

1. Prolonged life of major consumables (modules)
   The "G41K+" uses a newly developed high-durable electrode for the laser chamber that discharges pulses for laser emission to prolong the chamber life, while highly durable new optical sensors are used for the laser beam measurement unit to further enhance its durability. In addition, for the resonator optics, the line-narrowing module is mounted with highly efficient optical devices that dramatically enhance the laser emission efficiency, thus improving the energy margin of the entire system.
   
   The above improvement prolongs the replacement intervals of the laser chamber and optical modules (such as the line-narrowing module, monitor module and front mirror) from 20 billion pulses to 30 billion pulses. The overall improvement in the durability of these major modules enables a great reduction in the running cost of the KrF laser, as much as 2/3 that of the conventional G41K model.
   
   
2. On-site upgrade from the "G41K" is possible; high-output type also available
   For "G41K" users, Gigaphoton can perform an on-site upgrade from the "G41K" to "G41K+" by replacing the modules at a user site. In addition, the "G41K+" is developed to meet future needs for KrF light sources with higher output.

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About Gigaphoton
Gigaphoton Inc. was founded in 2000 as a joint venture of Komatsu Ltd., the world’s No. 2 construction machinery manufacturer, and Ushio Inc., the world’s No. 1 lithography lamp manufacturer. Since then, Gigaphoton has been developing and marketing user-friendly, highly innovative laser light sources to make a great contribution to lithography technology to meet the stringent requirements of the ultra-fine circuit patterns required for the Gigabit era, and delivering them to major lithography tool suppliers in the global semiconductor industry. Gigaphoton has already grown to dominate the Asian market including Japan with a large number of installed bases of most of major semiconductor device manufacturers in this region as the No.2 excimer laser light source manufacturer in the world, and continues to enjoy rapid growth in the US and European markets.

The company name, logo, "G41K," and "G41K+" are the trademarks of Gigaphoton, Inc. The content of this release may be changed without prior notice. Gigaphoton shall not be liable for updating or announcing a correction if the content of this release is changed for any reason in the future.

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