ACM Research Enters Coater/Developer Track Market to Support Lithography for Semiconductor IC Manufacturing

FREMONT, Calif., Nov. 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ACM Research, Inc. (ACM) (NASDAQ: ACMR), a leading supplier of wafer processing solutions for semiconductor and advanced wafer-level packaging (WLP) applications, today, through its operating subsidiary ACM Research (Shanghai), Inc., introduced its Ultra Track tool, marking its entry into the track market. ACM’s participation in this new product category is a natural evolution of its expertise in cleaning, coating and developing systems. The Company completed R&D for its first standalone coater tool and developer tool for packaging in 2013 and delivered them in 2014. ACM expects to ship the first Ultra Track Coater/Developer ArF tool to a domestic Chinese customer in a few weeks, and an i-line model in 2023, and also has begun development of a KrF model.

“I am pleased to announce ACM’s entry into the track market, a major new product category for our company. According to Gartner, the global track market is expected to reach $3.7 billion USD in 2022, making it a significant new opportunity for ACM,” said David Wang, founder and CEO of ACM. “ACM’s core competencies in software and robotics, combined with our proven coater and developer tool performance and proprietary new architecture, position us to enter the track market with a competitive product offering. This marks our initial entry to support the front-end lithography process of today and the future. We see good demand potential and we believe many global logic and memory manufacturers are seeking a second track supplier source.”

ACM’s Ultra Track is a 300mm process tool that delivers uniform air downflow, fast robot handling and customizable software to address specific customer requirements. The tool has multiple features that enhance performance across defectivity, throughput, and cost of ownership. The Ultra Track will support the full range of lithography applications, including i-line, KrF and ArF process.

Coater/developer track tools support the photolithography process, ensuring ideal conditions for the entire process and optimizing the coating and developing steps before and after the wafer is exposed in a lithography tool. Designed to support 300mm wafers, the Ultra Track features four 12-inch load ports, 8 coating chambers and 8 developing chambers. Chamber temperature is maintained at 23°C ±0.1°C with a bake range of 50 to 250°C. The tool achieves wafer breakage of <1 per 50,000 wafers. The proprietary new architecture design also supports 12 coating chambers and 12 developing chambers for throughput of 300 wafers per hour, which is expected to increase to 400 wph in the future with more coating chamber and developing chambers.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release are not historical facts and may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the Company’s expected shipment timeline for its Ultra Track Coater/Developer ArF first tool; the expected size of the global track market; the competitiveness of and demand for the Company’s product offering in the track market; and the expected increase in throughput of the Company’s product. Forward-looking statements are based on ACM management’s current expectations and beliefs, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by the forward-looking statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following, any of which could be exacerbated even further by the continuing COVID-19 outbreak in China and globally: anticipated customer orders or identified market opportunities may not grow or develop as anticipated; customer orders already received may be postponed or canceled; ACM may be unable to obtain the qualification and acceptance of its delivered tools when anticipated or at all, which would delay or preclude ACM’s recognition of revenue from the sale of those tools; suppliers may not be able to meet ACM’s demands on a timely basis; ACM’s technologies and tools may not gain market acceptance; ACM may be unable to compete effectively by, among other things, enhancing its existing tools, adding additional production capacity and engaging additional major customers; ACM may incur significant expenses long before it can recognize revenue from new products, if at all, due to the costs and length of research, development, manufacturing and customer evaluation process cycles; volatile global economic, market, industry and other conditions could result in sharply lower demand for products containing semiconductors and for ACM’s products and in disruption of capital and credit markets; ACM’s failure to successfully manage its operations, including its inability to hire, train, integrate and manage additional qualified engineers for research and development activities; and trade regulations, including those recently published by the U.S. Department of Commerce imposing certain restrictions on equipment shipments and business practices with China-based semiconductor manufacturers, currency fluctuations, political instability and war, all of which may materially and adversely affect ACM due to its substantial non-U.S. customer and supplier base and its substantial non-U.S. manufacturing operations. A further description of these risks, uncertainties and other matters can be found in filings ACM makes with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results and events may differ materially from results and events currently expected by ACM. ACM undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof or to reflect any change in its expectations with regard to these forward-looking statements or the occurrence of unanticipated events.

About ACM Research, Inc.
ACM develops, manufactures and sells semiconductor process equipment for single-wafer or batch wet cleaning, electroplating, stress-free polishing and vertical furnace processes, which are critical to advanced semiconductor device manufacturing and wafer-level packaging. The company is committed to delivering customized, high-performance, cost-effective process solutions that semiconductor manufacturers can use in numerous manufacturing steps to improve productivity and product yield. For more information, visit www.acmrcsh.com.

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