MATTSON TECHNOLOGY INTRODUCES ADVANCED LOW-K RESIST AND RESIDUE REMOVAL SYSTEM

FREMONT, Calif. - December 5, 2001 - Mattson Technology (NASDAQ: MTSN), a leading supplier of advanced process equipment used to manufacture semiconductors, today introduced an advanced low-k resist and residue removal system - the Aspen III Highlands.

According to Michael Santiago, Plasma Division Product Marketing Manager, one of the challenges that customer's face in integrating low-k materials is preserving the material's integrity, which can be altered when exposed to the environment and during processing. This concern becomes increasingly challenging when using porous low-k materials which are more susceptible to lateral diffusion. Additionally, Cu interconnects integrity are also affected by atmospheric exposure. To help address this issue, there is a push from customers to develop new production flows that use equipment which can provide integrated operational capabilities.

The Aspen III Highlands has proven its ability to preserve low-k material integrity and simplify integration schemes by reducing operational steps at several Beta sites. What was once done in several different pieces of equipment can now be done in one recipe on Highlands, saving our customers capital and floor space. Customers are also attracted to Highlands' extendibility for their future low-k development needs and fast resist rework capabilities.

Some of our beta partners have found that their original low-k film integration in development used equipment that provided needed technical capability but is not cost effective in a production line. We are targeting our Highlands system to be approximately half as expensive with twice the throughput.

The Highlands is a bridge tool system which takes advantage of the already matured Aspen III platform for high reliability and advanced automation. Its advance capability stems from its operating pressure regimes, low temperature processing capability, wide range of gas chemistries compatible with many low-k materials and sequential processing capabilities with our current ICP Strip Module.

The fact that our beta sites intend to lock Highlands into their next generation technology flow, demonstrates that this product meets customer needs and is mature enough for their production requirements now and is capable of meeting the needs of the future low-k demands.

About Mattson Technology, Inc.

Mattson Technology, Inc. is a leading supplier of semiconductor wafer processing equipment used in "front-end" fabrication of integrated circuits. The company is a market leader in dry strip and RTP equipment, and its products combine advanced process technology on high-productivity platforms backed by industry-leading support. Since beginning operations in 1989, the company’s core vision has been to help bring technology leadership and productivity gains to semiconductor manufacturers worldwide. Headquartered in Fremont, Calif., the company maintains sales and support centers throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. For more information, please contact Mattson Technology, Inc., 47131 Bayside Parkway, Fremont, Calif. 94538. Telephone: (800) MATTSON/(510) 657-5900. Fax: (510) 492-5911. Internet: www.mattson.com.