!!! Press Release !!!

ATMI EXPANDS GALLIUM NITRIDE EPITAXY CAPABILITY WITH AIXTRON 2600G3 HT TO PROVIDE CUSTOMERS WITH HIGHER PERFORMING SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIAL

Serving growing volume demands for GaN Based Electronic devices

Danbury/CT and Aachen/Germany, September 25th , 2002 - In response to increasing customer demand, ATMI, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATMI) expands its Gallium Nitride epitaxial capacity with the purchase of AIXTRON's 8x4" III-Nitride MOCVD reactor.

GaN-based electronic devices offer power handling and frequency capabilities that surpass many semiconductor materials while GaN-based optoelectronic devices offer power output and emission wavelengths (blue to UV) beyond the range demonstrated by other conventional semiconductor materials. These capabilities offer a unique solution to many commercial and government speciality and commodity applications.

"Our expertise with GaN epitaxy on gallium nitride, silicon carbide (SiC), sapphire and silicon substrates means our customers can get the high quality product they need at an exceptional value," said Dr. George Brandes, Director of ATMI's Gallium Nitride venture.

"ATMI's objective is to help our customers reach commercial capacity as quickly and efficiently as possible. With our new AIXTRON tool, we are closer to achieving our objective," he said. "Because ATMI is recognized as a leader in GaN substrates and epitaxy for electronic and opto-electronic devices, our customers are ordering more of our GaN material. They see growing end-user demand for their ultra-violet and blue LEDs, blue laser, cellular phones, WiFi computer networks and defense systems. With the industry's first high-throughput, large-diameter-substrate III-Nitride epitaxy tool, ATMI can provide significantly enhanced quality, uniformity and cycle time for our major US, Asian and European consumer and defense electronics customers as they make the transition from pilot phase to production."

Dr. Bernd Schulte, Executive Vice President, COO of AIXTRON adds, "AIXTRON's high-throughput AIX 2600G3 HT increases not only capacity - with as many as 24x2-, 8x3-, or 8x4-inch wafers per run - but also enhances process flexibility, uniformity, and reproducibility. For ATMI - choosing the AIX 2600G3HT was an easy decision, because the AIXTRON system offers unsurpassed temperature uniformity and stability, with an improved design for AlGaN composition, thickness, and dopant control."

About ATMI GaN
ATMI's Gallium Nitride venture effort supplies gallium nitride substrates and electronic and opto-electronic device epitaxy services. ATMI began in-depth research on Gallium Nitride (GaN) and nitride compounds in 1993 and has been a leading developer of GaN substrates and GaN epitaxy for electronic devices. In 1997, ATMI first expanded its nitride epitaxy manufacturing capacity with the addition of an AIXTRON 200/4. In 2000, ATMI expanded further to enable production of GaN substrates. ATMI has over twenty patents issued or pending for its GaN expertise. ATMI provides speciality materials and services to the worldwide semiconductor industry.

About AIXTRON
With an installed base of well over 650 systems world-wide, as verified by VLSI Research Inc., AIXTRON is 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 fiber 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, NDL, Research Center Jülich, RIKEN, Sandia Nat Lab 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.

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© AIXTRON AG, September 25, 2002

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