Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120118061 | METHOD AND APPAATUS FOR IMPROVING THE TEMPERATURE STABILITY AND MINIMIZING THE NOISE OF THE ENVIRONMENT THAT ENCLOSES AN INTERFEROMETRIC MEASURING SYSTEM - Disclosed herein is a method and system for providing environmental control for a vibration sensitive system such as an interferometric measurement system, while minimizing acoustic noise during data acquisition. | 05-17-2012 |
20120177282 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IMPROVED LOCALIZED FEATURE QUANTIFICATION IN SURFACE METROLOGY TOOLS - A method for enabling more accurate measurements of localized features on wafers is disclosed. The method includes:
| 07-12-2012 |
20130182262 | Method for Reducing Wafer Shape and Thickness Measurement Errors Resulted From Cavity Shape Changes - Methods and systems for reducing wafer shape and thickness measurement errors resulted from cavity shape changes are disclosed. Cavity calibration process is performed immediately before the wafer measurement. Calibrating the cavity characteristics every time the method is executed reduces wafer shape and thickness measurement errors resulted from cavity shape changes. Additionally or alternatively, a polynomial fitting process utilizing a polynomial of at least a second order is utilized for cavity tilt estimation. High order cavity shape information generated using high order polynomials takes into consideration cavity shape changes due to temperature variations, stress or the like, effectively increases accuracy of the wafer shape and thickness information computed. | 07-18-2013 |
20130188179 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING SHAPE AND THICKNESS VARIATION OF A WAFER - The invention provides a new dual-sided Moiré wafer analysis system that integrates wafer flatness measurement capability with wafer surface defect detection capability. The invention may be, but is not necessarily, embodied in methods and systems for simultaneously applying phase shifting reflective Moiré wafer analysis to the front and back sides of a silicon wafer and comparing or combining the front and back side height maps. This allows wafer surface height for each side of the wafer, thickness variation map, surface nanotopography, shape, flatness, and edge map to be determined with a dual-sided fringe acquisition process. The invention also improves the dynamic range of wafer analysis to measure wafers with large bows and extends the measurement area closer to the wafer edge. | 07-25-2013 |
20140029016 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO FOLD OPTICS IN TOOLS FOR MEASURING SHAPE AND/OR THICKNESS OF A LARGE AND THIN SUBSTRATE - A semiconductor measuring tool has a folding mirror configuration that directs a light beam to pass the same space multiple times to reduce the size and footprint. Furthermore, the folding mirrors may reflect the light beam at less than forty-five degrees; thereby allowing for smaller folding mirrors as compared to the prior art. | 01-30-2014 |
20140293291 | Wafer Shape and Thickness Measurement System Utilizing Shearing Interferometers - Interferometer systems and methods for measurement of shapes as well as their derivatives and thickness variations of wafers are disclosed. More specifically, shearing interferometry techniques are utilized in such measurement systems. The output of the measurement systems can be utilized to determine at least one of: a surface slope, a surface curvature, a surface height, a shape, and a thickness variation of the wafers. | 10-02-2014 |
20140313516 | Reducing Registration Error of Front and Back Wafer Surfaces Utilizing a See-Through Calibration Wafer - A calibration wafer and a method for calibrating an interferometer system are disclosed. The calibration method includes: determining locations of the holes defined in the calibration wafer based on two opposite intensity frame; comparing the locations of the holes against the locations measured utilizing an external measurement device; adjusting a first optical magnification or a second optical magnification at least partially based on the comparison result; defining a distortion map for each of the first and second intensity frames based on the comparison of the locations of the holes; generating an extended distortion map for each of the first and second intensity frames by map fitting the distortion map; and utilizing the extended distortion map for each of the first and second intensity frames to reduce at least one of: a registration error or an optical distortion in a subsequent measurement process. | 10-23-2014 |
20150176973 | A DUAL INTERFEROMETER SYSTEM WITH A SHORT REFERENCE FLAT DISTANCE FOR WAFER SHAPE AND THICKNESS VARIATION MEASUREMENT - An interferometer system is disclosed. The interferometer system includes two spaced apart reference flats having corresponding reference surfaces forming a cavity therebetween for placement of a polished opaque plate. The surfaces of the plate are approximately 2.5 millimeters or less from the corresponding reference surfaces when the plate is placed in the cavity. The interferometer system also includes two interferometer devices located on diametrically opposite sides of the cavity to map the surfaces of the plate. A light source is optically coupled to the interferometer devices. The light source includes an illuminator configured for producing light of multiple wavelengths and an optical amplitude modulator configured for stabilizing power of the light produced by the illuminator. The interferometer system further includes two interferogram detectors, and at least one computer coupled to receive the outputs of the interferogram detectors for determining thickness variations of the plate. | 06-25-2015 |