NASHUA, NH, December 22nd, 1999 -- Dr. Paul Hoff, Director of the Microelectronics Center (MEC) for Sanders, A Lockheed Martin Company, has been selected as the 1999 recipient of the Robert W. Hill Memorial Award in recognition of his achievements in the field of x-ray lithography. The international award has been sponsored for the past three years by Semiconductor Advanced Lithography (SAL), Burlington, Vt.; the recipient is chosen by a panel of past award winners to honor outstanding contributions to the progress of nanolithography -- the process of etching microcircuitry onto transistors. Dr. Hoff, a 20-year Sanders employee and former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was instrumental in advancing the state of the art using x-rays instead of light to provide microcircuit paths. X-rays can yield significant improvements in transistor performance and speed because of their very small wave lengths which produce extremely high definition for the circuit paths. The MEC, which he directs, is part of the Lockheed Martin Corporation's Microwave Center of Excellence located at Sander's South Nashua facilities.

Hoff has previously been recognized for his work in electro-optics. He is also the inventor of the excimer laser -- widely used in the medical community for eyesight correction surgery. Hoff has been involved with microelectronics for the past 15 years.

The award is named for Robert W. Hill, a long-time IBM employee regarded as the father of X-Ray lithography through his pioneering research into this cost-effective alternative to the more widely used optical lithography. Dr. Hoff received the award at SAL's annual Business Summit for NanoLithography at Burlington.

Previous award recipients include: Dr. Toyoki Kitayama, Senior Technical Director for Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Japan; Dr. Henry Smith, Director of the Nanostructures Research Laboratory at MIT; and Dr. Franco Cerrina, Director for the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for NanoTechnology.

Hoff resides in Bedford, N.H. with his wife Selma.

Sanders is an operating company of the Lockheed Martin Corporation. Sanders is a major producer of aircraft self-protection systems and tactical surveillance and intelligence systems for all branches of the armed forces. Other major business areas include microwave, mission and space electronics, and automated mission planning systems. Lockheed Martin, with headquarters at Bethesda, Md., is a global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's core businesses are systems integration, space, aeronautics, and technology services.

SAL is a privately held company which develops and markets state-of-the-art x-ray lithography (XRL) steppers.