Issaquah, Wash. - July 18, 2001 - Applied Precision has introduced upgrades to its PrecisionPoint^TM VX₂ Probe Card Analyzer. The enhancements, including improvements to configuration, software and safety, enable customers to use the analyzer more easily and efficiently.

"We've made these improvements not only to continually improve our product offerings, but also to help protect our customers' capital investments," said Joe Ahladis, Applied Precision's vice president of Sales, Marketing and Customer Service. "Particularly during the current economic downturn, we feel a responsibility to do our part to keep the semiconductor industry as healthy as it can be."

The PrecisionPoint VX₂ has become a standard in the industry as a probe card test, rework and repair station. It has the highest channel (4500) and probe test capability (8000) of any probe card analyzer on the market, enabling efficient and extremely accurate testing of next-generation, ASIC and advanced memory multi-DUT probe cards. The newly introduced enhancements provide the following benefits to customers:

Increase system efficiency

• Easier access to directories for reference files and saved test files and improved security by password protection for setting changes.
• A new feature called "Image Processing Recipes" improves flexibility and efficiency by automatically controlling over 30 different imaging parameters for special types of probe tips.
  
  

Provide greater ease of use

• The new "Auto Cycle" feature for the Vision Gage Card allows the user to specify how many tests to perform, and then the system automatically carries out the multiple tests with no user interaction required.
  
• A new log function provides a list of all tests performed on probe cards along with their test times, test configuration settings, probe card information, etc.
  
• The new Test Summary File contains the results of the current test and can be immediately viewed by a user or exported digitally for other test purposes.
  
  

Protect the customer's investments

• The new automatic tracking function indicates when critical performance related calibrations have last been performed and automatically notifies the user when a calibration is due, ensuring the system is performing optimally at all times.
  
• A new Motherboard/Probe Card Safety Interlock feature has been designed with a switch that senses when a probe card is properly locked in place, preventing possible damage to the motherboard and probe card.
  
  

The new software release containing these features has been shipped to Applied Precision's worldwide installed base and has been released to forward production. Bob Heiligenberg, product line manager for Applied Precision's semiconductor products, says, "These product enhancements reflect our continuing commitment to our customers to provide the most efficient tools for their operations. These enhancements are available free of charge for all existing PrecisionPoint V₂ and VX₂ systems, which number over 250 systems worldwide."

Applied Precision's PrecisionPoint VX₂ Probe Card Analyzer will be on display in Booth 10536 at SEMICON West, San Jose, Calif.

About Applied Precision, Inc.

Applied Precision develops measurement, analysis and process control systems for semiconductor test, assembly and packaging, as well as for biomedical and biotechnology imaging and analysis (especially cell microscopy, genomics and proteomics). Applied Precision's specialized systems are based on precisionware^TM, the company's unique convergence of mechanics, electronics, optics and software. The company has been enabling advancements in the world's core technologies since its inception in 1985. Applied Precision (www.appliedprecision.com) can be reached in the United States at (425) 557-1000 or in the United Kingdom at +44 1672 518350.