Numeritech announces Texas Instruments to license phase shifting technology to support 0.13-micron Process

NUMERITECH ANNOUNCES TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TO LICENSE PHASE SHIFTING TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT 0.13-MICRON PROCESS

SAN JOSE, CALIF. - March 13, 2000 -Numerical Technologies, Inc. (NumeriTech) (San Jose) today announced that Texas Instruments has licensed NumeriTech's iN-Phase design tool to support TI's 0.13-micron drawn (as referenced on the SIA roadmap) manufacturing process. TI will integrate NumeriTech's patented phase shifting technology into the design and manufacturing flows for TI's next-generation digital signal processing (DSP) and wireless devices.

 According to Dennis Buss, manager of analog technology development and vice president of silicon technology development, TI's roadmap estimates more than a 5 times increase in DSP instructions per second by 2005, and more than 25 times by 2010. "Phase shifting technology and tools play a critical role in reaching TI's performance goals," said Buss. "We are excited to be working with Numeritech to offer ways to achieve the performance benefits of next-generation IC feature sizes on today's processes."

"TI's commitment to use iN-Phase is an indication of the products' readiness for the market," said Y.C. (Buno) Pati, president and CEO of NumeriTech. "We look forward to working with TI to incorporate iN-Phase into their 0.13 micron drawn process, and look forward to continuing to meet TI's needs for other high-performance products."

 TI plans to release its 0.13-micron CMOS process technology into production in the first half of 2001.

 About the NumeriTech tools
iN-Phase is used in existing design flows after IC layout has taken place. The tool accepts industry-standard GDSII layout data and produces phase-shifted GDSII layout data. iN-Phase automatically generates a phase-shifted layout by applying user-defined criteria to select critical features. It then generates phase shift structures for those areas. The tool uses fast and accurate process simulation to compare a phase-shifted layout to silicon and determines whether optical proximity correction (OPC) is needed. If required, iN-Phase adds OPC where needed on the phase-shifted layout.

 About Phase Shifting
Phase shifting techniques selectively modulate the phase of light as it passes through a photomask to prevent the image of the circuit pattern projected onto the wafer from blurring. The high-quality image produced by phase shifting dramatically improves resolution and depth of focus so that the tiny features in subwavelength designs can "print" accurately on a wafer.

 The key benefit of phase shifting is the ability to produce next-generation feature sizes on existing lithography equipment, while improving yield through better process control. The key benefits of the patented NumeriTech approach are automation and manufacturability, which lead to cost and time savings for semiconductor companies.

 About NumeriTech
Numerical Technologies Inc. develops and markets software applications and services that enable integrated circuit designers and manufacturers to produce ICs with subwavelength feature sizes (i.e. below the wavelength of the DUV optical light sources used in steppers to transfer designs onto silicon wafers). NumeriTech believes its products and services provide a link between IC design and manufacturing for the world's leading microprocessor companies and semiconductor foundries. NumeriTech has formed strategic alliances with leading design automation, semiconductor equipment and photomask manufacturing companies. Additional information about the company is available on the Web at www.numeritech.com.
 

Contacts:

 NumeriTech - Susan Lippincott, (408) 919-1910 x 344,
slippincott@numeritech.com

 Cayenne Communication - Lois DuBois, (650) 854-5485,
lois.dubois@cayennecom.com