TOKYO Apr. 6, 2004Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) announced Tuesday that it will begin shipments in summer 2004 of the Impressio, its new FPD plasma etch/ash system capable of handling 7th generation substrates used in the production process of flat panel displays (FPD).

At present, the FPD market is seeing an increase in the production of LCDs for notebook PCs and PC monitors, as well as a growing need for larger glass substrates for LCD televisions. This has resulted in the necessity for mass production of 7th generation substrates measuring 1,870mm by 2,200mm.

In plasma etching, handling huge substrates measuring more than 2m on one side presents a challenge of maintaining the etching rate and uniformity at proper levels. The Impressio is designed and developed to create a uniform plasma density in process chambers and to increase the efficiency of etching. In addition to supplying process gases at a high flow rate, the new product provides six turbo molecular pumps assigned to each chamber as a standard feature, which makes large flow pumping possible.

Impressio's structure emphasizes reliability, with throughput equivalent to the 5th or 6th generation systems, as well as optimization of the transfer position for supporting substrates via simulations to minimize bending occurring on glass substrates with a size larger than 2m.

TEL has delivered more than 200 5th and 6th generation FPD plasma etch/ash system chambers. By making effective use of the experience of these predecessors, the new 7th generation system has achieved high-quality and high reliability.

Impressio is a trademark of Tokyo Electron Limited in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.