KLA Instruments Enters Software Market with Formation of New PRISM
Division

Leading Supplier of Semiconductor Equipment Targets Software Systems for
Yield and Productivity Improvement

SAN JOSE, California, June 13, 1994--KLA Instruments Corporation
(NASDAQ:KLAC), the world's largest producers of semiconductor yield
monitoring and analysis equipment, announced today that it will enter the
software market with a family of standard packages aimed at improving
manufacturing yields and productivity for the global semiconductor
industry.

Kenneth Levy, chairman and chief executive officer, said the decision
represents a major new opportunity for KLA to increase the breadth of its
system offerings by capitalizing on its substantial investment in software
capability, which has played an important role in turning the company's
individual wafer inspection systems into total yield management systems.

"With wafer fabrication costs soaring, the semiconductor industry is
accepting the concept of using monitoring inspection systems at multiple
points on the fab line, providing data that must be instantly analyzed for
potential impacts on yields," Levy said. "This requires emphasis on open
architecture software as much as hardware."

To meet this industry need, Levy said the company has formed a new software
division known as PRISM (PRocess Information SysteMs) and named Dr.
Michael Pliner, formerly chairman, president and CEO of Verity, Inc., as
general manager, reporting to Kenneth Schroeder, president and chief
operating officer. David Bakker, formerly director of marketing for new
business development, is director of marketing for PRISM.

According to Dr. Pliner, there are now only a few companies in the business
of developing standard software systems for semiconductor manufacturing,
leaving most chip manufacturers to develop their own software internally,
especially in the area of yield management. "We believe that KLA is in a
unique position to provide open software solutions that can take inputs
from virtually any system in the fab, whether or not it is a KLA product,
and turn it into productivity improving information."

Bakker said PRISM's first two products will be commercialized versions of
software developed within KLA product divisions, which will go into beta
site testing in the near future. Other product offerings are now in the
development stage, he said.

Dr. Pliner was co-founder of Verity, Inc., a document-retrieval software
company, in 1988. He was also the founder, in 1979, of the local-area
network company, Sytek Inc., which he served as chairman, president and
CEO until 1986. His extensive experience also includes four years with
Ford Aerospace and Communications Corp., and eight years with the National
Security Agency.

Bakker has been with KLA for four years, first as manager for data analysis
products before being named to his post in new business development a year
ago. Before joining KLA, Bakker was a yield enhancement process engineer
at Digital Equipment Corporation.

KLA Instruments Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer of yield
monitoring and process control systems for the semiconductor manufacturing
industry. KLA is a publicly held corporation, traded on the NASDAQ
National Market System under the symbol "KLAC."

KLA Instruments Corporation
160 Rio Robles
P.O. Box 49055
San Jose, CA 95161-9055
(408) 434-4200

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