Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
216060000 | By optical means or of an optical property | 27 |
20080272089 | Monitoring etching of a substrate in an etch chamber - A substrate etching apparatus comprises a chamber having a wall with a window, substrate support pedestal, energy source, and monitoring assembly with signal sensor capable of detecting reflected radiation from the substrate from directly above the substrate after the radiation propagates through the window in the wall. An etching method comprises the steps of: providing a substrate in a chamber, etching a channel or trench in the substrate by coupling energy through the wall of the chamber to energize an etch gas in the chamber, detecting radiation reflected from the substrate from directly above the substrate after the radiation propagates through the wall and evaluating the detected radiation to monitor the depth of etching of the channel or trench being etched on the substrate. | 11-06-2008 |
20080296257 | MINIATURE OPTICALLY TRANSPARENT WINDOW - Miniature optically transparent windows are disclosed that extend vertically from a plane, which may be used to transmit light traveling in a direction substantially parallel with the plane. In one illustrative embodiment, a method for forming such miniature optically transparent windows includes: providing a substrate having a first surface and an opposing second surface, the substrate having a first layer and an adjacent second layer; forming a recess in the first layer of the substrate, the recess extending to the second layer; providing an optically transparent material in the recess to form an optically transparent feature; and removing at least a portion of the first layer that extends adjacent the optically transparent feature so that light can pass through the optically transparent feature in a direction that is substantially parallel to the first surface of the substrate. | 12-04-2008 |
20090001052 | Plasma processing apparatus and plasma processing method - A plasma processing method for processing a sample mounted on a sample stage in a decompressable processing chamber in which plasma is produced. The method includes detecting a distribution of a concentration of a substance over a surface of a sample in the processing chamber using both of (1) a result of receiving light emission of the plasma and in different directions along the surface of the sample inside the processing chamber, detecting on the respective directions a constituent of the plasma and providing outputs indicative thereof, respectively, and (2) a result of taking in gases in the processing chamber and determining a mass of a constituent of the gases, and adjusting an operation of the processing of the sample so as to adjust a distribution of the processing on the sample surface based on the detected distribution of the concentration of the substance. | 01-01-2009 |
20090026170 | PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF PLASMA DISTRIBUTION CORRECTION - A plasma processing apparatus can prevent a sheath from becoming distorted, simplify a configuration of the apparatus, and prevent particles from attaching to a substrate. The plasma processing apparatus performs plasma processing on the substrate. A housing chamber houses the substrate. A mounting stage is disposed within the housing chamber and mounted with the substrate. An annular member is disposed in the mounting stage. A power supply unit supplies high-frequency power to the mounting stage. An observation unit optically observes the distribution of the plasma. A voltage applying unit applies a DC voltage to the annular member. A control unit sets the value of the DC voltage to be applied based on the observed plasma distribution. | 01-29-2009 |
20090065478 | MEASURING ETCHING RATES USING LOW COHERENCE INTERFEROMETRY - Measuring thickness and the rate of change of thickness of a material having a surface while the material is being etched, comprising: illuminating the material with low coherence light, a portion of the which transmits through the material and a portion of which is reflected; etching the material surface and while etching, collecting a portion of the reflected light from each optical interface of the material with a low coherence light interferometer; calculating the thickness and rate of change of thickness of the material or part of the material according to the obtained interferometric data; and storing or displaying the resultant thickness and rate of change of thickness of the material. The present invention provides a unique way of calculating the thermo optic coefficient of a material. This method can be used simultaneously with etching the material so that changes to the etching rate can be made in real time. | 03-12-2009 |
20090152241 | PLASMA ETCHING APPARATUS AND PLASMA ETCHING METHOD - The invention provides a method and apparatus for performing plasma etching to form a gate electrode on a large-scale substrate while ensuring the in-plane uniformity of the CD shift of the gate electrode. The present invention measures a radical density distribution of plasma in the processing chamber, feeds processing gases into the processing chamber through multiple locations and controls either the flow rates or compositions of the respective processing gases or the in-plane temperature distribution of a stage on which the substrate is placed, or feeds processing gases into the processing chamber through multiple locations and controls both the flow rates or compositions of the processing gases and the in-plane temperature distribution of the stage on which the substrate is placed. | 06-18-2009 |
20090200266 | Template Pillar Formation - Materials for forming an imprint lithography template may be etched at different rates based on physical properties of the layers. Additionally, reflectance of the materials may be monitored to provide substantially uniform erosion of the materials. | 08-13-2009 |
20090218314 | ADVANCED PROCESS SENSING AND CONTROL USING NEAR INFRARED SPECTRAL REFLECTOMETRY - Embodiments described herein provide a method and apparatus for obtaining process information in a substrate manufacturing process using plasma. In one embodiment, a chamber is provided having one or more optical metrology modules that are positioned such that optical energy from the plasma process is detected at substantially orthogonal angles. Metrics derived from detected optical energy may be used for endpoint determination, substrate temperature, and monitoring of critical dimensions on the substrate. | 09-03-2009 |
20090277872 | PLASMA ETCHING METHOD CAPABLE OF DETECTING END POINT AND PLASMA ETCHING DEVICE THEREFOR - The present invention relates to a plasma etching method in which a special area for detecting an end point needs not to be set and an equipment therefor. At an etching step of forming SF | 11-12-2009 |
20100025369 | PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND PLASMA PROCESSING METHOD - To monitor the thickness of a focus ring consumed during wafer processing. A plasma processing apparatus includes a vacuum chamber | 02-04-2010 |
20100133231 | Processing method and processing system - The present invention is a processing method including a processing step of performing predetermined processing for a workpiece; an unnecessary portion removal step of removing an unnecessary portion produced on a surface of the workpiece due to the predetermined processing; and a surface structure evaluation step of evaluating a surface structure of the workpiece from which the unnecessary portion has been removed by the unnecessary portion removal step. | 06-03-2010 |
20100133232 | DETERMINING ENDPOINT IN A SUBSTRATE PROCESS - An endpoint detection system for detecting an endpoint of a process comprises a polychromatic light source which emits polychromatic light. The light is reflected from a substrate. A light wavelength selector receives the reflected polychromatic light and determines a wavelength of light at which a local intensity of the reflected light is maximized during the process. In one version, the wavelength selector comprises a diffraction grating to generate a plurality of light beams having different wavelengths from the reflected polychromatic light and a light detector to receive the light beams having different wavelengths and generate an intensity signal trace of the intensity of each wavelength of the polychromatic reflected light. | 06-03-2010 |
20100230386 | PROCESSING DEVICE, ELECTRODE, ELECTRODE PLATE, AND PROCESSING METHOD - A processing gas fed from a gas feed pipe ( | 09-16-2010 |
20110031215 | Particle beam systems and methods - An inspection method comprises
| 02-10-2011 |
20110253671 | DETERMINING ENDPOINT IN A SUBSTRATE PROCESS - An endpoint detection method for detecting an endpoint of a process comprises determining a reflectance spectrum of light reflected from a substrate, the light having a wavelength, processing the substrate while light having the wavelength is reflected from the substrate, detecting light having the wavelength after the light is reflected from the substrate, generating a signal trace of the intensity of the reflected light and normalizing the signal trace with the reflectance spectrum of the light. The normalized signal trace can then be evaluated to determine an endpoint of the process. | 10-20-2011 |
20110315661 | ETCHING APPARATUS, ANALYSIS APPARATUS, ETCHING TREATMENT METHOD, AND ETCHING TREATMENT PROGRAM - There is provided an etching apparatus in which, without setting the information of the substance and the chemical reaction, a small number of representative wavelengths can be selected from a waveform at a lot of wavelengths, and an analysis process of etching data which needs large man-hours can be eliminated to efficiently set the monitoring of the etching. The etching apparatus includes: a lot/wafer/step-depending OES-data searching/acquiring function | 12-29-2011 |
20120103938 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MILLING AND IMAGING AN OBJECT - A system and a method for milling and inspecting an object. The method may include performing at least one iteration of a sequence that includes: milling, by a particle beam, a first surface of the object, during a first surface milling period; obtaining, by an electron detector, an image of a second surface of the object during at least a majority of the first surface milling period; wherein the object is expected to comprise an element of interest (EOI) that is positioned between the first and second surfaces; milling, by the particle beam, the second surface of the object during a second surface milling period; wherein each of the first surface milling period and the second surface milling period has a duration that exceeds a long duration threshold; obtaining by the electron detector an image of the first surface of the object during at least a majority of the second surface milling period. | 05-03-2012 |
20120132617 | PLASMA ETCHING APPARATUS AND PLASMA ETCHING METHOD - A plasma etching apparatus includes a processing container, a depressurization unit, a placement unit, a discharge tube, an introduction waveguide tube, a gas supply unit, a transport tube, a detection window, a coherent light detection unit, and a control unit. The control unit is configured to detect an end point of etching based on an output from the coherent light detection unit. The control unit is configured to use an output from the light receiving devices of a detection region of the coherent light detection unit to extract an output of the light receiving device of a portion of the detection region corresponding to an etching portion to detect the end point of the etching based on an intensity of the coherent light determined from the output of the light receiving device of the portion of the detection region corresponding to the etching portion. | 05-31-2012 |
20130180953 | PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND PLASMA PROCESSING METHOD - The present invention is to achieve a reduction both in size of a plasma processing apparatus and an installation area thereof. A dry etching apparatus includes a stock unit that includes a cassette storing a tray that can be conveyed and that stores substrates. In a conveying unit storing a conveying apparatus of the tray, a rotary stage is provided. Rotational angular position adjustment of the tray is performed by rotating the rotary stage placed on the tray before being subjected to dry etching and detecting a notch by a notch detecting sensor. | 07-18-2013 |
20130213933 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR EMPLOYING AN ACCELERATED NEUTRAL BEAM FOR IMPROVED SURFACE ANALYSIS - Apparatus and methods are disclosed for employing an accelerated neutral beam derived from an accelerated gas cluster ion beam as a physical etching beam for providing reduced material mixing at the etched surface, compared to previous techniques. This results in the ability to achieve improved depth profile resolution in measurements by analytical instruments such as SIMS and XPS (or ESCA) analytical instruments. | 08-22-2013 |
20130256266 | METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR EFFECTIVELY REDUCING GAS RESIDENCE TIME IN A PLASMA PROCESSING CHAMBER - Methods and apparatuses for controlling plasma generation in a plasma processing chamber to reduce an effective residence time of by-product gases or to control in real time the concentration of certain polymer pre-cursors or reaction by-products in the plasma processing chamber are disclosed. The gas residence time is “effectively” reduced by reducing the plasma reaction for at least a portion of the process time. Thresholds can be provided to control when the plasma reaction is permitted to proceed at the full rate and when the plasma reaction is permitted to proceed at the reduced rate. By reducing the rate of plasma by-product generation at least for a portion of the process time, the by-product gas residence time may be effectively reduced to improve process results. | 10-03-2013 |
20140197134 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PLASMA PROCESSING OF MICROFEATURE WORKPIECES - Systems and methods for plasma processing of microfeature workpieces are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method includes generating a plasma in a chamber while a microfeature workpiece is positioned in the chamber, measuring optical emissions from the plasma, and determining a parameter of the plasma based on the measured optical emissions. The parameter can be an ion density or another parameter of the plasma. | 07-17-2014 |
20140284307 | FOCUSED ION BEAM SYSTEM, SAMPLE PROCESSING METHOD USING THE SAME, AND SAMPLE PROCESSING PROGRAM USING FOCUSED ION BEAM - A focused ion beam system includes a focused ion beam irradiation mechanism which irradiates a sample, on which a protective film is formed, with a focused ion beam from above the sample, a processing control unit which performs a removal process on both sides of a region to be a thin piece portion of the sample by the focused ion beam and sequentially forms observation surfaces parallel to an irradiation direction of the focused ion beam so as to achieve the thin piece portion, and an observation surface image generation unit which generates an observation surface image. The processing control unit terminates the removal process when a height of the protective film in the irradiation direction of the focused ion beam becomes a predetermined threshold value or less in the observation surface image. | 09-25-2014 |
20140360977 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IN SITU SUBSTRATE TEMPERATURE MONITORING BY ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION EMISSION - A method for estimating a temperature of a substrate includes generating plasma in a plasma processing system. The substrate is arranged on a substrate support structure in the plasma processing system. The plasma generates electromagnetic radiation that is incident upon a first surface of the substrate. The method further includes arranging a detector adjacent to a second surface of the substrate and in-situ the plasma processing system and measuring a signal intensity of electromagnetic radiation passing through the second surface of the substrate at N frequencies. The method includes selecting each of the N frequencies at which the signal intensity is measured by the detector to correspond to a phonon-generating frequency of a material in the substrate. The method includes converting the signal intensity at the N frequencies to N absorbance values and estimating a temperature of the substrate based on the N absorbance values. | 12-11-2014 |
20150021294 | PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND OPERATIONAL METHOD THEREOF - A plasma processing apparatus includes: a detector configured to detect a change in an intensity of light emission from plasma formed inside a processing chamber; and a unit configured to adjust conditions for forming the plasma or processing a wafer arranged inside the processing chamber using an output from the detector, wherein the detector detects a signal of the intensity of light emission at plural time instants before an arbitrary time instant during processing, and wherein the adjusting unit removes the component of a temporal change of a long cycle of the intensity of light emission from this detected signal and detects the component of a short temporal change of the intensity of light emission, and adjusts the conditions for forming the plasma or processing a wafer arranged inside the processing chamber based on the short temporal change of the detected intensity of light emission. | 01-22-2015 |
20160090645 | METHOD FOR STRUCTURING AN OBJECT WITH THE AID OF A PARTICLE BEAM APPARATUS - Methods for structuring objects with a particle beam apparatus are disclosed. | 03-31-2016 |
20160133444 | INK COMPOSITION FOR DETECTING PLASMA TREATMENT AND INDICATOR FOR DETECTING PLASMA TREATMENT - An ink composition is provided for detecting plasma treatment, the composition containing a colorant and a nonionic surfactant, wherein (1) the colorant is at least one member selected from the group consisting of anthraquinone colorants, methine colorants, azo colorants, and phthalocyanine colorants; and (2) the nonionic surfactant is at least one of the surfactants represented by formulae (I) to (V): | 05-12-2016 |