MILPITAS, Calif., July 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- KLA-Tencor Corporation® (Nasdaq: KLAC), the world's leading supplier of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related industries, today announced the 1000th shipment of its automated in-line inspection products for solar wafers and cells. The rapid adoption of these products has been driven by the market's demand for technology to reduce the cost per watt of solar-generated electricity. These tools are currently installed at most of the major solar cell manufacturers around the globe.

"KLA-Tencor is proud to announce this important milestone as it reflects our ongoing commitment to providing solar cell fabrication engineers with more accurate inspection and metrology tools—enabling improved yield and higher cell efficiency and quality," said Jeff Donnelly, group vice president of Growth and Emerging Markets at KLA-Tencor. "We remain firmly dedicated to advancing new technologies for the solar industry and providing reliable products that enable our customers to inspect solar wafers and cells faster and with increased accuracy."

KLA-Tencor's PV inspection portfolio features the ICOS PVI-6™, which was introduced in March 2009 for optical in-line, dual-sided inspection of photovoltaic (PV) wafers and cells. The PVI-6, from KLA-Tencor's ICOS Division, a leader in metrology and inspection solutions for the PV industry, is now widely adopted in the market and installed at leading solar cell manufacturers worldwide. The ICOS PVI-6 offers a number of key technical benefits over the company's previous generation tools, including:

    --  Higher accuracy and repeatability of measurements, with up to a 4x
        measurement accuracy improvement, delivering higher yields and improved
        end-of-line cell classification
    --  Easier calibration and set-up, with calibration time decreased by
        approximately 80 percent to enable faster product ramp during initial
        installation
    --  Tool matching and central module management, offering consistent and
        easily attainable results in large production environments across
        multiple production lines
    --  Support from a global organization with dedicated solar inspection and
        metrology engineers

KLA-Tencor's solar process control portfolio will be on display at the 2010 Intersolar North America Tradeshow, which will be held July 13 – 15 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif., at Booth #9327.

About KLA-Tencor:  

KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC), a leading provider of process control and yield management solutions, partners with customers around the world to develop state-of-the-art inspection and metrology technologies. These technologies serve the semiconductor, data storage, compound semiconductor, photovoltaic, and other related nanoelectronics industries. With a portfolio of industry-standard products and a team of world-class engineers and scientists, the company has created superior solutions for its customers for over 30 years. Headquartered in Milpitas, California, KLA-Tencor has dedicated customer operations and service centers around the world. Additional information may be found at www.kla-tencor.com. (KLAC-P)

Forward Looking Statements:

Statements in this press release other than historical facts, such as statements regarding KLA-Tencor's ability to successfully develop and market technology and products that will benefit customers in the solar industry, the PVI-6's expected performance, expected uses of the company's solar process control tools by customers, and the anticipated cost, operational and other benefits realizable by users of the PVI-6 and KLA-Tencor's other solar process control tools are forward-looking statements, and are subject to the Safe Harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current information and expectations, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in such statements due to various factors, including delays in the adoption of new technologies (whether due to cost or performance issues or otherwise), the introduction of competing products by other companies or unanticipated technological challenges or limitations that affect the implementation, performance or use of KLA-Tencor's products.

SOURCE KLA-Tencor Corporation