[news] - Singulus Technologies AG

From left to right:
Stefan Baustert (Chief Financial Officer)
Roland Lacher (Chief Executive Officer)
Klaus Hammen (Executive Vice President Marketing & Sales)
Letter to Our Customers
Dear customer, dear business friend,
on November 6, SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES
signed an agreement with the main shareholder
of STEAG HamaTech AG, SES-Beteiligungs
GmbH, to acquire 66.28 percent of the
shares of STEAG HamaTech. Following the
approval from the German Financial Supervisory
Authority (Bafin) SINGULUS will publish
a voluntary public offer for all outstanding
shareholders at the beginning of December.
[news]
NEWS MAGAZINE FOR OUR BUSINESS FRIENDS
SINGULUS intends to acquire a majority of at
least 75 % of the shares of STEAG HamaTech.
Closing of the acquisition will be expected by
the end of January 2006.
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES, as the world's
largest manufacturer of production machines
for optical storage media, in particular
increases its customer relationships in the
recordable market through this acquisition.
SINGULUS expects that the combined
ISSUE 30 DECEMBER 2005
pro-forma sales of the two companies will be
in the area of about € 350 million in 2005.
Thus, SINGULUS will be excellently positioned
for a foreseeable market recovery. Leading
electronics and computer manufacturers as
well as film studios are currently discussing
the future standard of the third generation
of optical storage media. SINGULUS is the
first European producer to offer production
systems supporting both formats – HD DVD
To be continued on page 2
Also in this Issue � New Metallizer for Decorative Coatings � SPACELINE II HD � SINGULUS EMOULD
� Targets for Mastering � 200th AM Master Sold � First Delivery of SINGULUS BLU-LINE � New Director Sales

page
2
SINGULUS is a young company with a remarkable success story. Founded in 1995, producing only a stand-alone CD metallizer, the company grew to become the world's leading sup
Continued from page 1
and Blu-ray, which were already delivered
to major customers for testing.
With the combination of SINGULUS and
STEAG HamaTech we will create technological
leadership in all prerecorded and
recordable formats. In terms of individual
business areas as well as regionally our
companies complement one another
excellently. Through all combined strengths
we will be able to offer our customers a
broader range of products with leading
edge technologies and improved service
in the future.
At the same time, STEAG HamaTech's
competence in process machines for the
semiconductor applications complements
the TMR coating technology of SINGULUS
for MRAM and Thin Film Heads. This will
contribute even more to the further
development of the offered product range
in this segment.
We are very much looking forward to
continuing our business relationship with
you in the future with high-quality and
advanced equipment including our service
network second to none.
Yours sincerely,
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG
The Managing Board of Directors
Roland Lacher
Stefan Baustert
Klaus Hammen
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES
Delivers its First Production Machines
for Blu-ray Disc!
In October 2005, SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES
has delivered its first Blu-ray production
systems to major international customers.
This makes SINGULUS the first European
line manufacturer to place Blu-ray
replication lines in test production.
In November 2004, an alliance was
formed with SONY for the development
of these inline systems for the Blu-ray
single layer format.
In-house Exhibition on March 6-7,
2006 in Kahl/Main, Germany
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES is happy to
inform all its customers and business
friends that the company will arrange a
two-day in-house exhibition on March 6-7,
2006 at its headquarters in Kahl.
The event will mark the official market
introduction of the BLU-LINE, the new
inline replication system for Blu-ray Disc.
Visitors will get the chance to see the new
system in operation for the very first time.
Discs will be taken directly from the
system and played back on the latest
state-of-the-art Blu-ray players and HDTV
screens.
The SINGULUS BLU-LINE was presented to the
Hollywood majors by SINGULUS and SONY
since April 2005, after successful testing in
Kahl. Following the launch of the first HD DVD
SPACELINE II production lines in the summer
of 2005, SINGULUS has once again positioned
itself early on as the premier supplier for
3rd generation format equipment, regardless
of which format will finally win out with
consumers. This excellent position all but
assures SINGULUS’ continued market leadership
for the new generation of optical discs.
At the very same time, our new molding
machine MoldPro will see its world premiere.
Manufactured at the new SINGULUS MOLDING
facility in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, the
MoldPro is capable of producing high-end
substrates needed e.g. for Blu-ray. It is also
suited for the injection molding of optical
substrates.
Visitors will be able to see all SINGULUS
machines from our comprehensive line of
manufacturing systems for optical disc,
MRAM storage, optical lens and decorative
coatings in operation.
More details will be made available at the
beginning of next year.

[news] | ISSUE 30 | DECEMBER 2005 page 3
plier of CD and DVD inline manufacturing equipment. This success came from a dedicated focus on the optical disc market and innovate R&D leading to new proprietary technologies.
SPACELINE II HD
Nearly 25 Million DVD a Day Produced
Worldwide on SINGULUS Machines Development of
SPACELINE Cycle Time
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES was the first supplier
of in-line DVD manufacturing systems worldwide.
The success story of the SPACELINE
series began with the first delivery in 1997 of
a system with a cycle time of 6.5 seconds.
With the installation of over 500 SPACELINES
by 2003, SINGULUS had turned the system into
the industry benchmark.
The story continued with our SPACELINE II
system. Since the first year after its introduction
in 2004, we delivered more than 300
SPACELINE II lines worldwide. The success of
the SPACELINE II was more than equal to that
of the first generation system.
A new system for the production of HD DVD
was introduced at this year’s MEDIA-TECH Expo
at Las Vegas in May: The SPACELINE II HD.
The new SPACELINE II HD combines all DVD
formats including high density. The so-called
“Push Button Replication Line” is switchable
between HD DVD and Prerecorded DVD
production. It offers the capability of single
and dual layer mass production of high-speed
DVD with one touch operation. With a cycle
time below 2.30 seconds, the new machine
achieves the most cost-efficient disc production
and highest product quality and yield available.
All SPACELINE II lines are upgradeable for the
production of HD DVD. While smaller companies
focus on the continuing growth of DVD 9, there
is a significant trend among major replicators
Quantity
1200
600
0
1997
Cycle Time
to invest in the combined machines which
are capable of manufacturing both DVD 9 and
HD DVD. More than 60 percent of the machines
sold in 2005 are combined ones. At the moment,
there are more than 900 SPACELINE systems
in the market, setting the benchmark for the
production of prerecorded optical discs by
manufacturing a combined 8.8 billion units
per year.
The SPACELINE II series is now offered in
two different types:
The SPACELINE II D 5 was designed specially
for cost-effective and economical DVD 5
production without stacking ring for the
top side and the decent cycle time of the
SPACELINE II. This replication line is equipped
with the SINGULUS V metallizer with one Focus
Cathode and a single spin bowl arrangement.
Number of
Machines
Cycle Time (sec.)
6.5
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
SPACELINE SPACELINE II SPACELINE II HD
The SPACELINE II HD uses already the second
generation transmission measuring device (TMD
02) for 100 % quality control of every substrate
exceeding layer uniformity requirements. Also,
target life is maximized by means of a closed
loop system.
5.5
4.5
Since the introduction of the first SPACELINE
in 1997, the bonding system has proven its
reliability in preventing air inclusions. With
a unique degassing system and excellent
thermal preparation of the bonding agent prior
to dispensing, the system ensures that resin is
ready for use, bubble-free and of the desired
viscosity. To widen the process window – particularly
for lower production cycle times — the
VI 2 -BOND advanced bonding system is used.
3.5
2.5
1.5

page 4
SINGULUS is a young company with a remarkable success story. Founded in 1995, producing only a stand-alone CD metallizer, the company grew to become the world's leading supp
SINGULUS 3DS
New Metallizer for the Decorative Coating
of 3-Dimensional Substrates
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES is one of the
few companies in the world with a core
competency in metallization of optical
discs. In its main market, SINGULUS and its
predecessor companies have built over
5000 metallizers. Due to this gained competence
the company has developed a new
form of metallizer for the fully automated
inline refinement of plastic substrates:
The SINGULUS 3DS. The first machine has
already been delivered to a key customer
and is currently being introduced into mass
production.
The new system is a revolutionary development
in the segment of PVD Surface Coating.
The SINGULUS 3DS Sputtering System
for the industrial coating of 3-dimensional
plastic parts is an integrated system with the
capability of vacuum coating both sides
of the material simultaneously. Major
application fields are the high-end coating in
the cosmetic, medical, pharmaceutical, consumer
electronic, consumer goods,
giveaways and automotive industry.
Reflective and coloration layers are the
key application ranges of this system which
is fully automatic.
The SINGULUS 3DS metallizer features
compact size and user-friendly operation.
It is specially designed for easy and fast
integration into any production workflow.
With high yield and high reliability, the system
continues the SINGULUS metallizer legacy.
The sputtering unit is equipped with the
latest generation of SMART Cathode ® developed
by SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES providing
a very high deposition rate and an adaptive
plasma positioning.
The real advantages to bring a sputtering
technology in these large and various
application fields is cost saving and higher
quality on the coating characteristics.
This technology has many advantages in
comparison to conventional coating
technologies such as galvanics or thermal
evaporation.
In comparison to electroplating, the
SINGULUS 3DS completely forgoes the use
of environmentally-harmful chemicals.
The elimination of high operating and waste

[news] | ISSUE 30 | DECEMBER 2005 page 5
lier of CD and DVD inline manufacturing equipment. This success came from a dedicated focus on the optical disc market and innovate R&D leading to new proprietary technologies.
disposal costs provides a clean production
alternative for decorative surface finishing.
In comparison to the vapor deposition
process still limited to batch-mode operation,
the revolutionary SINGULUS sputtering
technology offers an enormous reduction in
manufacturing and logistics costs. The unique
SINGULUS 3DS sputter technology can be
used to apply all conductive and high meltpoint
materials. Hence, the selection of
surface properties, colors, and hues available
to users is much greater on a SINGULUS 3DS
than on a vapor deposition system.
This process will provide operators access to
entirely new fields of application and allow
them greater flexibility when responding to
the requirements and wishes of a diverse
customer base.
The following features characterize the
SINGULUS 3DS concept:
■ From single shot to mass production
■ Widest choice of metallic layers
■ Highly flexible on shapes
■ Highly cost effective
■ Best reproducibility and process control
■ Integration in existing workflow
■ Small, compact coating system
■ No environmental impact
■ Quick start

page 6
SINGULUS is a young company with a remarkable success story. Founded in 1995, producing only a stand-alone CD metallizer, the company grew to become the world's leading supp
Bernd Daniels Technical Director at ODS
High Speed ...
The reduction of cycle time for production
of new and actual optical disc formats with
EMOULD S2000/3 speeds up breathtakingly.
In view of reduced cycle time of the new
SPACELINE II HD the DVD process could be
optimized at SINGULUS EMOULD based on a
cycle time below 2.0 sec. The mechanical and
optical properties of the discs as well as the
replicated microstructures meet highest
demands as known from SINGULUS EMOULD
before.
At the same time the cycle time of the EMOULD
HD DVD process was developed from 3.5 to
3 sec. In laboratory conditions a cycle time of
2.5 sec could be achieved.
More dramatic is the progress in recordable
DVD formats. The EMOULD DVD-R process for
16x writing speeds was optimized down to
Development of EMOULD Cycle Time
SINGULUS EMOULD
High-speed Cycle Time Reduction
Meets Long-term Customer Loyality
2.8 sec and was released lately. Under
lab-conditions even further reductions in cycle
time were achieved.
At a speed of 2.0 sec all criteria for 16x DVD-R
substrates were met. These results were
achieved under “perfect” conditions and a
close cooperation with the stamper supplier.
These development steps, together with the
proven stability and reliability of the EMOULD,
open up an enormous potential for increased
production at SINGULUS EMOULD customers.
… Meets Long Term
Customer Loyalty
One of SINGULUS EMOULD’s satisfied
customers – Optical Disc Services GmbH (ODS),
Germany – has been very successful for many
years and was an early adopter of the EMOULD
fully electric molding machine.
In 1998 the first EMOULDS were installed for
disc-production, operating at cycle times of 3.8
sec, which was already fast at that time.
The growing demand in production capacity
lead to an installed base at ODS of more than
75 CD, DVD-, and HD DVD-replication lines with
a total 104 EMOULD molding machines.
The latest DVD-installation was finished in
September 2005 and was accepted at a cycle
time of 2.1 sec.
Bernd Daniels, Technical Director at ODS states:
“At a very early stage we saw the potential
of the EMOULD machine for our optical disc
production. For a full service facility like ODS,
not only cycle time is important, but also
reliability of equipment in order to run a
consistant production, with high yields and
uptime, day in day out.
Reliability, speed and quality are important
factors, also for us, to satisfy the needs of
our customers.”

SINGULUS MASTERING Sells
AM Master No. 200 to Datapulse Technology
Further Sale to Matrix Technology
With the recent purchase of the AM Master
system by Datapulse Technology, Singapore,
SINGULUS MASTERING achieves a major milestone:
The system delivered to Datapulse
Technology is AM system with production
number 200. Offering superior service and
unwavering dedication to consistent high
quality standards, Datapulse has chosen the
AM Master to expand her manufacturing
performance with an in-line system of an
excellent reputation.
The first AM was built in 1992 thereby introducing
in-line mastering in a world that, until
then, only knew batch processing. Over the
years, many firsts where added onto this
machine, which have contributed to the
reputation of a reliable, high performance
production system for CD and DVD mastering.
In many respects, the AM has been a trendsetter,
for instance by the introduction of
8x CD encoding speed in 2000 using the ACE
encoder. A higher DVD glass master output
was realized at the end of 2001 with the
introduction of 3R mastering speed for DVD
using the ACE100 with integrated waveshaping
capabilities.
In the year 2002 the AM Master was equipped
with a Blue Solid State Laser (BSSL) replacing
the gas laser, resulting in significant lower
operating costs and a further improved laser
lifetime and reliability. All features recognized
as essential for high quality and high
performance mastering.
In addition, Matrix Technology (Italy)
announced at the MEDIA-TECH Showcase &
Conference in October the purchase of their
second AM Master system. The machine will
be installed in January of 2006 in the new
facility. This will increase the glass master
and stamper manufacturing capacity of
[news] | ISSUE 30 | DECEMBER 2005 page 7
lier of CD and DVD inline manufacturing equipment. This success came from a dedicated focus on the optical disc market and innovate R&D leading to new proprietary technologies.
Matrix Technology, using two AM Master
systems for prerecorded and two Dual Beam
recorders for recordable formats.
As independent supplier of stampers, quality
of product and service is key, hence the
Matrix Technology’s decision for another
machine from SINGULUS MASTERING. It is
already decided that Matrix Technology will
move into the new HD formats, such as
HD DVD and BD, SINGULUS MASTERING will
be the partner of choice.
With this AM Master, SINGULUS MASTERING
is also shipping the 250th ACE100 signal
encoder. Shortly after its introduction in
2002 this encoder very quickly created an
excellent reputation due to the high speed
output and the embedded waveshaping
capabilities resulting in excellent jitter
figures.

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS
12/05-2005-MetaCom Printed in Germany, Technical alterations reserved
New SINGULUS
Director Sales:
Percy Dengler
Effective August 1, 2005, Percy Dengler
has joined SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG as
new Director Sales. While holding several
international sales positions within the
sheet-fed offset segment of MAN Roland
Druckmaschinen AG, he gained a broad
knowledge and experience in sales.
In 2002, he was appointed Executive Vice
President Sales and Service, responsible for
the worldwide sales of sheetfed machines.
Furthermore, Mr. Dengler in his position was
responsible for strategic service planning
and spare parts business for existing
machines at his former company.
Born in 1965 he started his business career as
a trained offsetprinter. After his subsequent
studies of "Printing Technology" at the FH
Druck in Stuttgart, Mr. Dengler joined MAN
Roland in 1994.
Headquarters
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG
Hanauer Landstrasse 103,
D-63796 Kahl, Germany
Phone: +49 - 61 88 - 440 - 0
Fax: +49 - 61 88 - 440 - 110
E-mail: sales@singulus.de
Internet: www.singulus.de
Associated Companies
Now Targets for Mastering
The SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Target Group
supplies high purity materials for all
applications in the Optical Disc industry. The
company now offers nickel vanadium targets
for the application in mastering systems.
The first series of NiV-targets had been
developed and tested for AM Direct, AM Master
and DMS Evolution mastering systems from
SINGULUS MASTERING, Eindhoven, NL. Also for
the new standalone Laser Beam Recorder
(266 LBR) for the mastering of third
generation optical disc formats HD DVD and
Blu-ray Disc the new targets are tested.
Targets for other mastering systems are
available on request.
The following NiV-targets for AM Direct, AM
Master, DMS Evolution and 266 are available:
■ dimension D 144 x 10 mm
■ dimension D 144 x 25 mm
■ dimension D 160 x 15.4 mm
Germany: Netherlands:
SINGULUS EMOULD GmbH SINGULUS MASTERING B.V.
St.-Jobser-Strasse 52, D-52146 Würselen Marinus v. Meelweg 2
Phone: +49 - 24 05 - 60 19 - 13 5657 EN Eindhoven
Fax: +49 - 24 05 - 60 19 - 25 Phone: +31 - 40 7501 - 400
E-Mail: info@emould.de Fax: +31 - 40 7501 - 409
Internet: www.emould.de E-Mail: info@singulus.nl
Internet: www.singulus.nl
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG Subsidiaries
Brazil SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES LATIN AMERICA LTDA.
Tel.: +55-11-3641-0113, Fax: +55-11-3641-1446
E-mail: latinamerica@singulus.com.br
France SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES France S.A.R.L.
Tel.: +33-4758-60954, Fax: +33-4758-60955
E-mail: singulus@club-internet.fr
Great Britain/ SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES UK LTD.
Ireland Tel.: +44-1793-7842-00, Fax: +44-17 93-784-222
E-mail: singulus_uk@msn.com
Italy SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES ITALIA S.R.L.
Tel.: +39-071-7930-312, Fax: +39-071-7930-821
E-mail: singulus.italia@fastnet.it
Singapore SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Asia Pacific
Tel.: +65-67 41 19 12, Fax: +65-67 41 12 13
E-mail: singulus@singnet.com.sg
Spain SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES IBERICA S.L.
Tel.: +34-936-750-025, Fax: +34-935-906-426
E-mail: singulus@singulusib.com
Taiwan SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES TAIWAN LTD.
Tel.: +886-2-8751-2015, Fax: +886-2-8751 2016
E-mail: sales@singulus.com.tw
USA/Canada SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Tel.: +1-860-683-8000, Fax: +1-860-683-8010
E-mail: sales@singulus.com
USA/ SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES INC.
West-Coast Office Tel.: +1-805-373-6216, Fax: +1-805-371-7433
E-mail: sales@singulus.com
The range of products, original masks and
original targets for all SINGULUS metallizers
as well as targets for metallizers from other
manufacturers, is adapted to meet the
requirements of all areas in the Optical Disc
industry.
The targets are manufactured to the original
design; their geometry is optimized to
cathode configuration for maximum target
utilization. Thanks to precision machining
and special surface treatment under constant
quality control targets and masks are of high
and consistent quality. With targets and
masks directly from the equipment supplier
customers benefit from continuous improvements
and new developments in existing
systems.
Nickel Vanadium Targets for
Application in Mastering Systems