Founded in 1972, Tegal Corporation is a leading manufacturer of plasma etch systems used in the fabrication of integrated circuits (ICs) and related electronic devices. The company went public in October 1995 and trades on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol TGAL.
The company continues its tradition of combining innovative technical leadership with expertise in systems and process design to provide the semiconductor, telecommunications, MEMS, data storage, and related industries with a wide range of plasma etching solutions. Along with a firm commitment to R&D efforts, Tegal aggressively invests in intellectual property. The company holds 61 patents worldwide and has 61 applications pending. A key technology for Tegal is its ability to etch new materials using its patented HReВЇ (High Density Reflected Electron) reactor technology. These new materials are used in device families for non-volatile memory such as FeRAM - (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory), MRAM - (Magnetic Random Access Memory), and also in compound semiconductors which are key to opto-telecommunication devices. These device markets are expected to grow rapidly in the future according to industry experts.

Tegal is headquartered in Petaluma, California, and sells, services, and supports its installed base of more than 3,500 platforms from 15 offices located in all major semiconductor-producing regions of the world. This extensive network of support has consistently earned Tegal VLSI Research's "Ten BEST" award in recognition of the superior customer satisfaction reported by Tegal etch tool owners.