Bizarre Patents
An automatic bed maker which uses the expansion of inflatable bladder to straighten, align, and tuck-in bed-cover assembly.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8142571 | Process for treatment of semiconductor wafer using water vapor containing environment A process is provided for treating a semiconductor wafer at a target wafer temperature. This process includes the following steps: a) determining the target wafer temperature of the semiconductor wafer during a given wafer treatment process step; ... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8104425 | Reagent activator for electroless plating A method for electroless plating of a substrate is provided that comprises exposing an electroless plating reagent comprising a metal to be plated and at least one reducing agent to a solid phase Activation Material to form an activated electroless plating reagent p... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8070884 | Methods for rinsing microelectronic substrates utilizing cool rinse fluid within a gas enviroment including a drying enhancement substance Rinsing and drying a surface of a microelectronic device and the enhanced removal of rinse fluid from the surface of the microelectronic device while the microelectronic device is rotated is provided as part of a spray processing operation. Rinse fluid is generally ... | 12/06/2011 |
| 7913706 | Rinsing methodologies for barrier plate and venturi containment systems in tools used to process microelectronic workpieces with one or more treatment fluids, and related apparatuses Tool for treating microelectronic workpieces with one or more treatment materials, including liquids, gases, fluidized solids, dispersions, combinations of these, and the like. The invention provides an approach for rapid, efficient rinsing of wetted surface(s), and... | 03/29/2011 |
| 7819984 | Process for treatment of substrates with water vapor or steam A method of treating a substrate comprises, in one aspect, placing a substrate having material on a surface thereof in a treatment chamber; directing a stream of a liquid treatment composition to impinge the substrate surface; and directing a stream of water vapor t... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7681581 | Compact duct system incorporating moveable and nestable baffles for use in tools used to process microelectronic workpieces with one or more treatment fluids Apparatuses, and related methods, for processing a workpiece that include particular baffle members or duct structures having an inlet proximal to an outer periphery of a workpiece and/or workpiece support. ... | 03/23/2010 |
| 7592264 | Process for removing material from substrates A method of removing materials, and preferably photoresist, from a substrate comprises dispensing a liquid sulfuric acid composition comprising sulfuric acid and/or its desiccating species and precursors and having a water/sulfuric acid molar ratio of no greater tha... | 09/22/2009 |
| 7556697 | System and method for carrying out liquid and subsequent drying treatments on one or more wafers Systems for processing microelectronic substrates in a process chamber that incorporate improved technology for transitioning from a wet process to a dry process (especially transitioning from rinsing to drying). At least a portion of residual liquid remaining in fl... | 07/07/2009 |
| 7476616 | Reagent activator for electroless plating A method for electroless plating of a substrate is provided that comprises exposing an electroless plating reagent comprising a metal to be plated and at least one reducing agent to a solid phase Activation Material to form an activated electroless plating reagent p... | 01/13/2009 |
| 7425505 | Use of silyating agents The present invention provides improvements to the use of silyating agents in semiconductor processing. More particularly, the silyating agents may be provided in combination with a substantially non-flammable ether, so that the combination is substantially non-flam... | 09/16/2008 |
| 7422031 | Rotary unions, fluid delivery systems, and related methods A rotary union having a housing, a rotor, and a post such that a fluid can be conveyed through the rotary union. The rotor is rotatably coupled to the housing, preferably by at least one bearing interposed between a portion of the rotor exterior and a portion of the... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7404681 | Coating methods and apparatus for coating Described are process control methods for spin-coating, and apparatuses and devices incorporating the same, wherein the method is useful for application of developer solution to a substrate, and wherein the process control method includes one or more features of: in... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7364625 | Rinsing processes and equipment Described are methods of rinsing and processing devices such as semiconductor wafers wherein the device is rinsed with using a surface tension reducing agent; the method may include a subsequent drying step which preferably incorporates the use of a surface tension ... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7312161 | Advanced process control for low variation treatment in immersion processing The variability of immersion processes for treatment of semiconductor devices can be significantly lowered by initiating the termination of a treatment process according to a predetermined treatment termination protocol in a manner that takes into account the contri... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7244315 | Microelectronic device drying devices and techniques Improved methods of rinsing and drying microelectronic devices by way of an immersion processing apparatus are provided for effectively cleaning microelectronic devices. Methods and arrangements control the separation of one or more microelectronic devices from a li... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7238239 | Liquid coating device with barometric pressure compensation A liquid coating device and method for coating a coatable composition on a workpiece to form a coating, wherein a parameter indicative of barometric pressure is measured and at least one thickness-affecting process parameter is adjusted in order to compensate for th... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7235495 | Controlled growth of highly uniform, oxide layers, especially ultrathin layers The present invention relates to methods of making oxide layers, preferably ultrathin oxide layers, with a high level of uniformity. One such method includes the steps of forming a substantially saturated or saturated oxide layer directly or indirectly on a semicond... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7156927 | Transition flow treatment process and apparatus A method is provided for treating an object. In this method, a treating chemical is introduced to a bath under conditions effective to at least partially envelop the object to be treated in eddy currents of the bath liquid, followed by introducing non-treating liqui... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7134827 | Reduced footprint tool for automated processing of microelectronic substrates The present invention provides tools and methods of processing microelectronic substrates in which the tools maintain high throughput yet have dramatically lower footprint than conventional tools. In preferred aspects, the present invention provides novel tool desig... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7089076 | Scheduling multi-robot processing systems A robotic manufacturing system may include multiple robots for transporting materials between a series of stages in a manufacturing process. To provide enhanced efficiency, each of these robots may independently operate according to a reverse process flow, cyclical ... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7025831 | Apparatus for surface conditioning Apparatus and process for conditioning a generally planar substrate, contained in a chamber isolatable from the ambient environment and fed with a conditioning gas which includes reactive gas. The apparatus includes a support for supporting the substrate in the cham... | 04/11/2006 |
| 6996456 | Robot with tactile sensor device Methods and apparatuses for calibrating and teaching a robot to accurately work within a work environment. The present invention preferably provides one or more tactile sensor devices that may be operatively coupled with a robot or positioned at one or more desired ... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6979165 | Reduced footprint tool for automated processing of microelectronic substrates The present invention provides tools and methods of processing microelectronic substrates in which the tools maintain high throughput yet have dramatically lower footprint than conventional tools. In preferred aspects, the present invention provides novel tool desig... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6884066 | Thermal process station with heated lid Methods and apparatuses to improve the temperature uniformity of a workpiece being processed on a heated platen of a thermal processing station. A heated platen is enclosed in a housing incorporating an additional heat source that uniformly outputs thermal energy in... | 04/26/2005 |
| 6875289 | Semiconductor wafer cleaning systems and methods An immersion processing system is provided for cleaning wafers with an increased efficiency of chemical use. Such a system advantageously uses less cleaning enhancement substance that may be provided as gas, vapor or liquid directly to a meniscus or wafer/liquid/gas... | 04/05/2005 |
| 6854514 | Temperature control apparatus and method with recirculated coolant A temperature control and process for adjusting the temperature of a workstation and a work medium at a workstation to a predetermined temperature. The temperature control comprises a cooling vehicle such as a heat exchanger, a coolant temperature sensor and control... | 02/15/2005 |
| 6845779 | Edge gripping device for handling a set of semiconductor wafers in an immersion processing system A microelectronic substrate handling device comprising first and second support structures spaced from each other, the first support structure having a series of upper teeth defining a series of upper notches extending along a length of the first support structure a... | 01/25/2005 |
| 6838115 | Thermal processing system and methods for forming low-k dielectric films suitable for incorporation into microelectronic devices Single wafer processing methods and systems for manufacturing films having low-k properties and low indices of refraction. The methods incorporate a processing station in which both curing and post-cure, in situ gas cooling take place. ... | 01/04/2005 |
| 6835667 | Method for etching high-k films in solutions comprising dilute fluoride species A process for etching high dielectric constant (high-k) films (e.g., ZrzSiyOx, HfzSiyOx, ZrzHfyOx, HfzAlyOx, and ZrzAl... | 12/28/2004 |
| 6822413 | Systems and methods incorporating an end effector with a rotatable and/or pivotable body and/or an optical sensor having a light path that extends along a length of the end effector Robot system incorporates a versatile end effector that can be used to transport wafers, map wafers, and autocalibrate the movements of the robotic system. Typically, the end effector of the invention is rotatably and/or pivotably coupled to a robotic arm and includ... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6807984 | High flow high control valve and assembly A valve and a valve assembly are provided that exhibit both highly controlled metering of fluid, as well as a high volume of fluid flow when the valve is in the fully open position. The regulating portion of the valve is provided with channels having different cross... | 10/26/2004 |
| 6797063 | Dispensing apparatus Described are dispensing apparatuses and methods of their use, the dispensing apparatuses having one or more process chamber inside of a control chamber, and the volume of the process chamber increases or decreases by adding or removing control fluid from the contro... | 09/28/2004 |
| 6746615 | Methods of achieving selective etching An in-process microelectronics device is treated by applying a heated liquid to the surface of the in-process microelectronics device, removing a portion of the liquid from the surface of the in-process microelectronics device and applying anhydrous HF gas to the su... | 06/08/2004 |
| 6694224 | Control of robotic systems In an automated processing system, a system controller uses a meta-heuristic technique for identifying an optimal or near-optimal control schedule for controlling movements and operations of a robot. In particular embodiments, the system controller uses a... | 02/17/2004 |
| 6681781 | Methods for cleaning microelectronic substrates using ultradilute cleaning liquids A method of cleaning a surface of an article using cleaning liquids in combination with acoustic energy. Preferably, an ultradilute concentration of a cleaning enhancement substance, such as ammonia gas, is dissolved in a liquid solvent, such as filtered ... | 01/27/2004 |
| 6663792 | Equipment for UV wafer heating and photochemistry The apparatus of the present invention provides for the dual use of a UV source to heat a substrate and to facilitate photochemistry necessary for the treatment of the substrate. The present invention also provides a method for processing a substrate by h... | 12/16/2003 |
| 6648307 | Method to increase the quantity of dissolved gas in a liquid and to maintain the increased quantity of dissolved gas in the liquid until utilized A method for increasing the quantity of a gas, e.g., ozone, dissolved in a liquid, e.g., ultrapure deionized water, is provided. The gas to be dissolved is introduced to the liquid under pressure and the resulting admixture delivered to the end-use statio... | 11/18/2003 |
| 6639189 | Heating member for combination heating and chilling apparatus, and methods Described are heating members and related methods, the heating members being usefully for processing substrates such as microelectronic devices, the heating members optionally and preferably comprising a thermal conductive layer prepared to a superior fla... | 10/28/2003 |
| 6599560 | Liquid coating device with barometric pressure compensation A liquid coating device and method for coating a coatable composition on a workpiece to form a coating, wherein a parameter indicative of barometric pressure is measured and at least one thickness-affecting process parameter is adjusted in order to compen... | 07/29/2003 |
| 6578369 | Nozzle design for generating fluid streams useful in the manufacture of microelectronic devices Improved nozzle design that discharges more powerful, more focused fluid streams through a series of nozzle orifices distributed along a length of the nozzle. The present invention may be incorporated into a wide range of microelectronic device manufactur... | 06/17/2003 |
