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April 27, 2005

GIGAPHOTON ANNOUNCES VOLUME PRODUCTION AND SHIPMENT
OF NEW LASER MODEL “GT40A”

Industry’s First Injection-locking ArF Excimer Laser

OYAMA, Japan, April 27, 2005—Gigaphoton Inc., a major lithography light source manufacturer for the global semiconductor industry, today announced that it has begun volume production and shipment of a new argon fluoride (ArF) excimer laser model, the “GT40A” (emission wavelength: 193 nm; repetition rate: 4,000 Hz). This new model has already been tested and qualified for integration with lithography tools at ASML Holding NV (ASML) in the Netherlands, and will be mounted on ASML lithography systems that are scheduled for delivery to major global semiconductor manufacturers in mid-2005.

In today’s advanced lithography process, with LSI circuit patterns becoming increasingly finer, ArF lithography has reached mainstream, while immersion lithography has become the most promising next-generation technology. A high level of throughput and stable spectrum performance are essential for an ArF laser to be used as a light source for immersion ArF lithography.

To meet such stringent requirements, Gigaphoton developed the “GT40A,” the industry’s first 4-kHz ArF excimer laser mounted with an injection-locking resonator for use as a mass-production lithography light source for 65-nm and below technology nodes. Based on tests performed at Gigaphoton’s headquarters in Japan and at a major lithography tool manufacturer, the GT40A has demonstrated stabilized high performance, low-running costs, and unprecedented reliability and uptime—all of which are sufficient to meet the requirements associated with mass-production lithography processes.

Gigaphoton has been supplying krypton fluoride (KrF) and ArF excimer laser light sources for lithography tools to ASML and other leading major lithography tool manufacturers since 2000. During that time, ASML and Gigaphoton have established a successful collaboration in development and product support, and both companies are confident that the introduction and operation of the GT40A will proceed smoothly.

Gigaphoton is also committed to meeting the continuous improvement targets of ASML’s supply chain management strategy, called Value Sourcing. This strategy challenges suppliers to meet the highest levels of performance in the areas of quality, logistics, technology and cost (QLTC). Gigaphoton recently achieved the highest supplier rating level for its QLTC performance. “I’m very pleased that Gigaphoton and its employees achieved the “A” status,” commented Henk Scheepers, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Management, at ASML. “We are confident that Gigaphoton will continue to provide us with quality support while maintaining its high QLTC standard.”

Main Features of the GT40A:

1. An injection-locking laser
   
   The GT40A is the industry’s first mass-production model to use injection-locking technology*. This ensures highly stable emission of a DUV beam with high output of 45 W and a spectral bandwidth of 0.2 picometer (pm) for full-width half maximum (FWHM) and 0.5 pm for E95 — the highest bandwidth level in the industry.
   
   * Injection-locking technology injects a low-output laser beam (master)—which is emitted after being tuned to an extremely narrow spectral bandwidth—into a laser resonator (amplifier) that amplifies it with laser resonation. This technology allows simultaneous maintenance of a narrower spectral bandwidth and higher output, a combination that is difficult to achieve with conventional technologies.
   
2. The industry’s lowest running cost
   
   The injection-locking technology allows greater reduction of the load upon the laser optics. Furthermore, the system configuration has been refined to significantly reduce both the number of consumables (modules) and replacement frequency. As a result, the GT40A can achieve the lowest running cost in the industry.
   
3. A highly reliable/operable design
   
   The high reliability and high uptime essential to semiconductor fabs are achieved by introducing a newly developed self-diagnosis function, which significantly improves the ease of module replacement and serviceability.

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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 that make a great contribution to lithography technology so as 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 the major semiconductor device manufacturers in this region. Already the No. 2 excimer laser light source manufacturer in the world, Gigaphoton continues to enjoy rapid growth in the U.S. and European markets. More information about Gigaphoton can be found on the company’s website at: www.gigaphoton.com

The company name and logo 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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