TRIJET™ AIX 200FE MOCVD REACTOR FOR PRECURSOR QUALIFICATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL

!!! Press Release !!!

TRIJET™ AIX 200FE MOCVD REACTOR FOR PRECURSOR QUALIFICATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL

Aachen/Liverpool, April 15th , 2002 - AIXTRON is pleased to announce the successful installation of the AIX 200FE research scale MOCVD system at the University of Liverpool, England, for the characterization of precursors for the deposition of oxide-based materials. The many applications of these oxides include non-volatile Ferroelectric RAMs (FeRAMs) and advanced CMOS technology. The AIX 200FE is a rotating susceptor, horizontal flow reactor into which one of AIXTRON's key Tricent® MOCVD technology components, the TriJet™, has been implemented. The precisely controlled TriJet™ liquid precursor delivery and patented contactless evaporation system is the proven technology for the critical evaporation step of oxide MOCVD.

The AIX 200FE has been installed at the Department of Materials Science under the direction of Professor Tony Jones and Dr. Paul Chalker. A Qualification Agreement is in place with AIXTRON under which precursors for ferroelectric, high-k capacitor and gate dielectric materials will be characterized and qualified for the TriJet™ technology. Issues such as long term stability, stability in a mixture and deposition parameter window are being investigated. In addition, Liverpool University will act as a Demonstration Laboratory for customers of AIXTRON's research scale oxide MOCVD equipment.

Liverpool University has extensive facilities for the synthesis and characterization of MOCVD precursors and the characterization of thin films, and now has a major research effort into MOCVD and CBE deposition technologies based in the departments of Chemistry, Materials Science and Surface Science. Professor Jones and AIXTRON have existing collaborations with Epichem (Bromborough, UK) and Inorgtech (Mildenhall, UK) to develop novel MOCVD precursors for semiconductor and oxide MOCVD, and the installation of the AIX 200FE system significantly strengthens this joint effort. Dr. Chalker's research includes the integration of functional oxide materials into micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and the exploitation of oxide superlattices in distributed Bragg structures.

AIXTRON is the leading supplier of semiconductor equipment for oxide and other multicomponent materials. AIXTRON's Tricent® product line is designed for the production of high-k gate dielectrics, capacitor dielectrics, ferroelectric materials and SiGe, as well as the AIX 200/2000/3000 product family for compound semiconductors. The production equipment portfolio includes up to 7x6" batch as well as 200/300 mm single wafer Tricent® equipment. With an installed base of well over 600 systems worldwide, AIXTRON is represented in over 15 countries providing an extensive service and support network for maintenance as well as upgrading of systems. Due to its high level of customer service worldwide, AIXTRON has been rated once more among the 2001 10 BEST in its category in VLSI Research Inc's Customer Satisfaction Survey. In addition AIXTRON's close and reliable partnership with its stakeholders (e.g. customers, suppliers, inventors) is reflected in the inclusion of AIXTRON shares into the Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2001. AIXTRON's Tricent® and oxide equipment customers include IQE Silicon Compounds, National Nano Device Laboratories, Taiwan and ST Microelectronics, amongst others. AIXTRON's Compound Semiconductor equipment Customers include Agere, Alcatel, Anritsu, ATMI, Avalon, AXT, Epson, Honeywell, IQE, ITT, JDS-Uniphase, Kopin, LumiLeds, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nortel, Optospeed, Osram, Procomp, Samsung, Showa Denko, Sumitomo, Thales, UEC, VPEC as well as numerous Japanese corporations. AIXTRON systems have also been installed in many renowned research institutes worldwide, including CNRS, Fraunhofer Institute, ITRI-OES, JPL, Meijo University, Research Center Jülich, RIKEN, Sandia Nat. Lab, University of Tokyo. AIXTRON is very active in advancing MOCVD technology through collaborations and joint R&D projects with major partners worldwide. AIXTRON shares are listed at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany (Reuters symbol: AIXG.DE; ISIN: DE0005066203).

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