AIXTRON TRICENT® MOCVD REACTOR FOR NON-VOLATILE MEMORY APPLICATIONS INSTALLED AT UNIVERSITY OF MAGDEBURG

!!! Press Release !!!

AIXTRON TRICENT® MOCVD REACTOR FOR NON-VOLATILE MEMORY APPLICATIONS INSTALLED AT UNIVERSITY OF MAGDEBURG

Aachen/Magdeburg, Germany, September 11th, 2002 - AIXTRON is pleased to announce the successful installment of an AIXTRON Tricent® Reactor at the new cleanroom facilities of the University of Magdeburg, headed by Prof. Dr. Edmund P. Burte. In the frame of a very close co-operation, the University of Magdeburg and AIXTRON will jointly undertake research activities on new precursors and related physical properties for the materials strontium bismuth tantalate (SBT), and lead zirconium tantalate (PZT) for future Non-Volatile Memory (FeRAM) applications. Using the Tricent® MOCVD Reactor unit for basic research, both partners have taken the excellent chance to perform fundamental R&D effort directly on a well accepted industry standard platform.

Memories based on the ferroelectric effect, the non-volatile Ferroelectric RAMs (FeRAMs) exhibit impressive growth potential: They are expected to substitute the many different memory types used today. This novel device type, the "Universal RAM", combines the ultra-fast read/write times of DRAMs with the non-volatile properties of EEPROMs.

Prof. Dr. P. Edmund Burte comments: "The identification of more efficient and less costly precursors is an important step towards accelerating growth of the FeRAM devices industry. Additionally, advancing insights into the physical properties of Ferroelectrics will provide potential for both further optimization of those materials and more cost efficient production of devices. We are convinced that the AIXTRON Tricent® Oxides Reactor, with its additional volume production capabilities is the ideal tool to support our efforts." Dr. Bernd Schulte, Executive Vice President, COO of AIXTRON adds: "We are proud that the University of Magdeburg has chosen our Tricent® Oxides tool. Prof. Burte's group will add a significant amount of expertise to our activities, advancing our CVD technology for those enabling material layers in future generations of data storage and processing devices. The Tricent® MOCVD system is the most advanced 200/300 mm bridge cluster tool, ideally suited for the deposition of ferroelectric materials (e.g. SBT, PZT), electrodes and high-k materials for integrated capacitor and gate dielectric applications."

AIXTRON is the leading supplier of semiconductor equipment for oxide and other compound materials. The Tricent® product line has been designed for the production scale deposition of high-k gate Dielectrics, capacitor Dielectrics, Ferroelectrics, SiGe and Strained Silicon. It includes the precisely controlled TriJet™ liquid precursor delivery and contactless evaporation system (patented) and a dual-flow, temperature-controlled showerhead (patented) for separate and highly reproducible introduction of precursors and oxide agents. The total AIXTRON production equipment portfolio including the Planetary Reactor® series consists of up to 7x6" batch as well as 200/300 mm single wafer Tricent® equipment. AIXTRON's Tricent® equipment customers include Fraunhofer Institute, IQE Silicon Compounds, National Nano Device Laboratories Taiwan and ST Microelectronics, University of Liverpool and Symetrix, amongst others.

With an installed base of well over 650 systems world-wide, AIXTRON is, as verified by VLSI Research Inc., the world leading supplier of equipment for semiconductor epitaxy and has been rated once more amongst the 2002 10 BEST in its category in the most recent VLSI Customer Satisfaction Survey. Its equipment is used by a diverse range of customers worldwide to manufacture critical, advanced components such as HBTs, PHEMTs, MESFETs, Lasers, LEDs, Detectors and VCSELs used in fibre optic communications systems, wireless and mobile telephony applications, optical storage devices, illumination, signaling and lighting, as well as a range of other leading edge technologies. The company has an extensive service and support network in over 15 countries. AIXTRON's many customers include Agere, Alcatel, Anritsu, ATMI, Avalon, AXT, Epson, Honeywell, Infineon, IQE, IQE Silicon Compounds, ITT, JDS-Uniphase, Kopin, LumiLeds, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nortel, Optospeed, Osram, Procomp, Samsung, Showa Denko, Siemens, ST Microelectronics, Sumitomo, Thales, UEC, VPEC as well as numerous Japanese corporations. AIXTRON systems have also been installed in the most renowned research institutes worldwide, including CNRS, Fraunhofer Institute, ITRI-OES, JPL, Meijo University, Research Center Jülich, NDL Taiwan, RIKEN, Sandia Nat Lab, Tsinghua University and the University of Tokyo. AIXTRON is very active in advancing MOCVD technology through collaborations and joint R&D projects with major partners worldwide. AIXTRON AG (FSE: AIX ISIN DE0005066203) is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World and the MSCI World Index.

For further information please contact:

Dr. Claus Ehrenbeck
Head of Investor Relations and
Corporate Communications
AIXTRON AG
Kackertstr. 15 - 17
D-52072 Aachen, Germany
Phone:+49 241 8909 444
Fax: +49 241 8909 445
E-mail: invest@aixtron.com