Rudolph Ships JetStep Lithography System for High-Volume Fan-Out Packaging Applications

Flanders, New Jersey (February 2, 2015)—Rudolph Technologies, Inc. has shipped the JetStep^® Advanced Packaging Lithography System to a leading outsourced assembly and test (OSAT) facility. This new customer will use the JetStep W Series for fan-out wafer level packaging (FO-WLP) applications.

“The customer was seeking to add capacity for ramp in 2015 and chose our JetStep solution because it offered them a 20-30 percent productivity improvement over their existing lithography tool set, and better overlay performance, which is expected to result in higher yields. Also critical was the flexibility of our handling system—its ability to handle both warped wafers and flexible substrates was a leading factor that influenced their purchase decision,” stated Rich Rogoff, vice president and general manager of Rudolph’s Lithography Systems Group.

According to Mike Plisinski, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Rudolph, “This sale is evidence of our leading-edge technology that has clearly demonstrated the best cost-of-ownership in high yields for advanced packaging processes. We are pleased to announce a new customer for our JetStep Advanced Packaging Lithography System, and, while advanced packaging is in the early stages of dynamic growth, it is a critical enabler of mobile connectivity, and therefore, an important driver for Rudolph.”

Rudolph’s JetStep Advanced Packaging Lithography Systems have been specifically designed to meet the challenges of newly-developed processes now emerging in back-end manufacturing. The JetStep W Series is intended for use with wafers or other round substrates. The JetStep S Series is for square or rectangular substrates. Both systems feature a 2X reduction stepper with a large field of view (52mm x 66mm) to improve exposure efficiency and throughput. The JetStep system is unique in its ability to handle a wide range of substrates, including glass interposers, square or rectangular substrates up to 720mm by 600mm, and standard or reconstituted wafers from 300mm to next-generation 450mm diameters; and to accommodate the warped substrates that frequently occur in these processes. An onboard, automated reticle library, holding up to 30 reticles, and adjustable field apertures combine to increase throughput and flexibility. These and other purpose-designed features, such as the large automatic magnification compensation range, provide significant benefits in advanced package applications that are unavailable from legacy lithography tools initially designed for front-end, wafer-based processes.

The JetStep stepper is part of a unique closed-loop lithography solution that integrates the stepper with other Rudolph systems and software, including the NSX^® Series for defect inspection and CD and overlay metrology; ProcessWORKS^® software for run-to-run, closed-loop process control; ARTIST^® software for fault detection and classification; Discover^® software for fabwide yield management; and the S3000S™ and SONUS™ product families for film thickness measurements.

For more information about Rudolph’s JetStep System, please visit the Rudolph Technologies Website.

About Rudolph Technologies
Rudolph Technologies, Inc. is a worldwide leader in the design, development, manufacture and support of defect inspection, advanced packaging lithography, process control metrology, and data analysis systems and software used by semiconductor device manufacturers worldwide. Rudolph provides a full-fab solution through its families of proprietary products that provide critical yield-enhancing information, enabling microelectronic device manufacturers to drive down the costs and time to market of their products. The Company’s expanding portfolio of equipment and software solutions is used in both the wafer processing and final manufacturing of ICs, and in adjacent markets such as FPD, LED and Solar. Headquartered in Flanders, New Jersey, Rudolph supports its customers with a worldwide sales and service organization. Additional information can be found on the Company’s website at www.rudolphtech.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”) which include the benefits to customers of Rudolph’s products, Rudolph’s business momentum and future growth, Rudolph’s existing market position and its ability to maintain and advance such position relative to its competitors and Rudolph’s ability to meet the expectations and needs of our customers as well as other matters that are not purely historical data. Rudolph wishes to take advantage of the “safe harbor” provided for by the Act and cautions that actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of various factors, including risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Rudolph’s control. Such factors include, but are not limited to, delays in shipping products for technical performance, component supply or other reasons, the company’s ability to leverage its resources to improve its positions in its core markets and fluctuations in customer capital spending. Additional information and considerations regarding the risks faced by Rudolph are available in Rudolph’s Form 10-K report for the year ended December 31, 2013 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As the forward-looking statements are based on Rudolph’s current expectations, the company cannot guarantee any related future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Rudolph does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.