MILPITAS, Calif., April 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nanometrics Incorporated (NASDAQ: NANO), a leading provider of advanced process control solutions, today announces the Atlas® III+ platform for advanced process control metrology.  The Atlas III+ has been qualified at multiple memory and foundry/logic device manufacturers, each utilizing Nanometrics’ proprietary analysis software including NanoDiffract® and SpectraProbe™. With its unique combination of spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) with full Mueller Matrix capability and broadband reflectometry (SR), the Atlas III+ provides industry-leading metrology performance while also providing increased productivity on the most demanding devices, both in development and high-volume production.

“The Atlas III+ extends Nanometrics’ platform technology with simultaneously increased productivity, better sensitivity and improved accuracy, continuing our position as the leaders in the industry for Optical Critical Dimension (OCD) metrology,” stated Sudhakar Raman, vice president and general manager of the automated metrology business unit at Nanometrics.  “The Atlas III+ has been qualified on the industry’s most advanced devices for leading memory and foundry/logic customers.  With significant enhancements to key subsystems including our proprietary ellipsometry and reflectometry technologies, the Atlas III+ is driving OCD productivity and applications adoption to the next level.  Our customers are measuring more critical features per wafer, across more wafers per lot, and in more steps in the process, as they drive for better manufacturing yield and device performance.  The Atlas III+ is enabling a new metrology paradigm with significantly higher sampling to satisfy our customers’ increasing demand for data.”

The Atlas III+ is the latest in the family of combination SE/SR systems for advanced fab metrology and process control, and is our flagship automated system supporting advanced OCD and thin-film metrology with our proprietary ellipsometry and reflectometry technologies.  The Atlas III+ delivers best-in-class precision and repeatability at a faster overall system throughput, supporting a broad variety of process control applications.  When combined with NanoDiffract, the Atlas III+ enables high-fidelity metrology on the most complex three-dimensional structures.  When utilizing SpectraProbe, the Atlas III+ provides unique insight into on-device and in-die control for advanced yield learning and process optimization.

Nanometrics has shipped multiple systems that are currently in volume production at both foundry/logic and memory customers.

About Nanometrics
Nanometrics is a leading provider of advanced, high-performance process control metrology and inspection solutions used primarily in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, as well as in the fabrication of other solid-state devices and components in the optoelectronic, LED and storage industries, and more recently in the industrial, aerospace and scientific research markets.  Nanometrics’ process control solutions include automated and integrated metrology systems as well as software and analytics that measure and monitor key elements of device performance and yield, such as critical dimensions, device structures, surface shape and profile, overall topography and various thin film properties, including three-dimensional features and film thickness, as well as the optical, electrical and material properties of various substrates, devices and components.  Nanometrics’ solutions enable advanced process control for device manufacturers, providing improved device yield at reduced manufacturing cycle time, supporting the accelerated product life cycles in the semiconductor and other advanced markets. The company maintains its headquarters in Milpitas, California, with sales and service offices worldwide. Nanometrics is traded on Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol NANO. Nanometrics’ website is http://www.nanometrics.com.

Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in this release.  Although Nanometrics believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from these expectations due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to: Nanometrics’ inability to ship products as scheduled or achieve customer acceptance of new products; shifts in the timing of customer orders and product shipments; and general economic conditions. For additional information and considerations regarding the risks faced by Nanometrics that could cause actual results to differ materially, see its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 29, 2018, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 25, 2019 including under the caption “Risk Factors,” as well as other periodic reports filed with the SEC from time to time. Nanometrics disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement, except as required by law.

Investor Relations Contact:
Claire McAdams 
Headgate Partners LLC
530.265.9899
claire@headgatepartners.com

Company Contact:
Kevin Heidrich
SVP Corporate Development
503.207.4611
kheidrich@nanometrics.com

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