SEIKO EPSON STRENGTHENS GAINASN BASED VCSEL RESEARCH WITH AIXTRON MOCVD PRODUCTION TOOL

!!! Press Release !!!

SEIKO EPSON STRENGTHENS GAINASN BASED VCSEL RESEARCH

with AIXTRON MOCVD Production Tool

Aachen/Nagano-Ken, 14th October, 2002 - AIXTRON is proud to announce the successful start-up of an AIX 2400 MOCVD System in 8x3" configuration at Seiko Epson Corporation for the production of GaInAsN materials. Installation was completed within a very short time, thanks to the strong process technology support provided by the AIXTRON technology transfer team.

A spokesman for Seiko Epson comments "We were impressed by the speed of the installation and by the excellent results obtained already during start-up and we are looking forward to working with this AIXTRON system to advance our research into long-wavelength lasers." Dr. Bernd Schulte, Executive Vice-President and COO of AIXTRON adds "The AIXTRON Planetary Reactor® is ideal for creating VCSEL based devices and structures thanks to its inherent uniformity and reproducibility. Our AIX 2400 MOCVD system is an excellent tool to advance GaInAsN based material technology from a research environment to one of mass production."

Dilute Nitride Materials (GaInAsN) are a very promising class of materials enabling the production of novel electronics and opto-electronic devices. AIXTRON closely co-operates with the University of Marburg and Mochem GmbH in the development of MOCVD technology and qualification of materials and processes for mass production.

The AIXTRON Planetary Reactor® utilizes leading-edge, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) techniques to achieve epitaxial growth in semiconductor materials, providing the key technology to develop and manufacture compound semiconductors and various other multi-component materials. The well known advantages of the AIXTRON Planetary Reactors® include their user-friendly operation, excellent process stability, very high precursor utilization efficiencies and world best uniformities. Excellent reliability and a high throughput, have led to their unrivalled position world-wide and the creation of a new industry benchmark in epitaxial technology.

AIXTRON is a supplier to leading VCSEL industrial clients such as Avalon, AXT, Epitech, Epivalley, FBH, Genoa Corporation, Gigacomm, IQE, KAIST, Kingmax, KTH, Novalux Inc., TU Berlin and the University of Marburg. 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, Epson, Honeywell, Infineon, 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. Many systems have also been installed in the most renowned research institutes worldwide, including CNRS, Fraunhofer Institute, ITRI-OES, JPL, Meijo University, NDL Taiwan, Research Center Jülich, 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