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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7751061 | Non-contact apparatus and method for measuring a property of a dielectric layer on a wafer Non-contact apparatus and methods for evaluating at least one of the DC (or RF) dielectric constant, the hardness, and Young's Modulus of a dielectric material on a microelectronic workpiece under process and for generating a correlation factor that relates a measur... | 07/06/2010 |
| 7705995 | Method of determining substrate etch depth A method of monitoring, in real time, the depth to which a process sample is etched by an etching procedure involving investigating a sample substrate that has a patterned surface which, when electromagnetic radiation in an appropriate wavelength range is caused to ... | 04/27/2010 |
| 7692798 | Method for biomolecular detection and system thereof A method of sensing at least one target on a receptor having a substrate and a translucent coating includes minimizing interference fringe patterns in an image of the target. The method also includes passing the image of the target through an imaging system intermed... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7649633 | Method and instrument for measuring complex dielectric constant of a sample by optical spectral measurement In order to measure a complex dielectric constant of a thin film on a substrate, a method includes irradiating the thin film sample with light at a first incident angle so that the light undergoes multiple internal reflections within the thin film sample. The method... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7649634 | Methods and systems for white light interferometry and characterization of films Methods are provided for estimating a surface profile of a sample in an interferometer having a broad bandwidth light source. The interferometer detects interference pattern intensity data over a series of frames of a relative scan between the sample and a reference... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7646489 | Apparatus and method for measuring film thickness A film thickness measuring apparatus of the present invention includes: a light source that emits white light to be irradiated onto a multilayer thin film; a spectroscope that disperses reflected light obtained as a result of irradiating the white light onto the mul... | 01/12/2010 |
| 7589843 | Self referencing heterodyne reflectometer and method for implementing A self referencing heterodyne reflectometer is disclosed which rapidly alternates between a heterodyne reflectometry (HR) mode, in which an HR beam comprised of s- and p-polarized beam components at split angular frequencies of ω and ω+Δω is employed, and a self... | 09/15/2009 |
| 7586622 | Measuring thickness of a device layer using reflectance and transmission profiles of baseline devices A method for measuring a layer of a device is provided. In an embodiment, a set of baseline reflectance profiles may be generated from a corresponding set of baseline devices. Each of the baseline devices may include a layer with a known thickness. A reflectance pro... | 09/08/2009 |
| 7573582 | Method for monitoring film thickness, a system for monitoring film thickness, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and a program product for controlling film thickness monitoring system A method monitors a thickness of a subject film deposited on an underlying structure, the underlying structure contains at least one thin film formed on a substrate. The method includes determining thickness data of the underlying structure and storing the thickness... | 08/11/2009 |
| 7551294 | System and method for brewster angle straddle interferometry A system and method for biomolecular sensing are disclosed. The system includes a receptor for a target, a source of p-polarized light positioned to direct light toward the receptor in a manner effective to result in a condition of near perfect interference in the a... | 06/23/2009 |
| 7492467 | Method and apparatus for measuring thickness and optical properties of a thin-film on a substrate Various embodiments include a metrology tool comprising an emitter configured to emit an incident light beam at a production substrate including an ARL, a receiver configured to receive a reflected light beam from the production substrate, a spectrometer configured ... | 02/17/2009 |
| 7483148 | Ellipsometric investigation of very thin films Use of spectroscopic data obtained by investigation of a witness sample having a relatively thick dielectric on a surface thereof during deposition of a thin film onto the witness sample and onto a process sample having no, or a relatively thin dielectric on its sur... | 01/27/2009 |
| 7468799 | Scanning interferometry for thin film thickness and surface measurements A method including: providing a low coherence scanning interferometry data for at least one spatial location of a sample having multiple interfaces, wherein the data is collected using a low coherence scanning interferometer having an illumination geometry and an il... | 12/23/2008 |
| 7443512 | Apparatus and method for measurement of film thickness using improved fast fourier transformation The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for a measurement of a film thickness using an improved fast Fourier transformation. The apparatus includes a light source, a light receiving unit for converging a light from the light source, a detection unit... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7439073 | Kit for biochemical sensor and measuring apparatus An object of the present invention is to provide a simple biochemical sensor making use of the light interference effect of an optical film which is capable of measuring binding of biochemical substances at a high throughput. In the present invention, a solution con... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7411685 | Spectrometric measuring instrument Providing a spectrometric measuring instrument suitable for in-line measurement for example in a semiconductor manufacturing process, an FPD manufacturing process, or the like, by realizing size reduction and imparting resistance to distance fluttering, angle flutte... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7394551 | Vacuum ultraviolet referencing reflectometer A spectroscopy system is provided which operates in the vacuum ultraviolet spectrum. More particularly, a system utilizing reflectometry techniques in the vacuum ultraviolet spectrum is provided for use in metrology applications. To ensure accurate and repeatable me... | 07/01/2008 |
| 7375360 | Light device of arranging thin film inspection sensor array, and method and apparatus for arranging sensor array using the same There is disclosed a light device for arranging a thin film pattern sensor array where a sensor array used for inspecting a thin film pattern is made to be arranged without a separate correction pattern film in accordance with an inspection subject. In the li... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7372986 | Method and apparatus for determining if an optical disk originated from a valid source A method and apparatus for determining if an optical disk originated from a valid source, the method and apparatus scanning one major surface of the optical disk for mechanical surface imperfections, storing the locations of the surface imperfections relative to a d... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7372579 | Apparatus and method for monitoring trench profiles and for spectrometrologic analysis An apparatus for monitoring a trench profile of a substrate includes a radiation-emitting unit for irradiating the substrate with infrared radiation. The intensity and/or polarization state of the infrared radiation reflected from the substrate is measured at a mult... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7369252 | Process control monitors for interferometric modulators Process control monitors are disclosed that are produced using at least some of the same process steps used to manufacture a MEMS device. Analysis of the process control monitors can provide information regarding properties of the MEMS device and components or sub-c... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7365860 | System capable of determining applied and anodized coating thickness of a coated-anodized product A system for forming an anodized coating on at least a portion of a substrate thereby creating an anodized substrate is disclosed. The system includes a bath, a coating thickness monitor, at least one probe and at least one controller. The coating thickness monitor ... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7362448 | Characterizing residue on a sample A residue detection system collects at least one of the spectrum and image from a measurement region on a sample. Spectral analysis is performed on the collected spectrum to determine whether residue is present and if so the thickness of the residue. The spectral an... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7355726 | Linear variable reflector sensor and signal processor Linear variable reflector sensors can be used to measure the displacement of objects. These sensors are useful in that they can be very small, do not conduct electricity, and are resistant to electrical interference from EMI/EMP and lightning strikes. The present li... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7348192 | Method for monitoring film thickness, a system for monitoring film thickness, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and a program product for controlling film thickness monitoring system A method monitors a thickness of a subject film deposited on an underlying structure, the underlying structure contains at least one thin film formed on a substrate. The method includes determining thickness data of the underlying structure and storing the thickness... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7339682 | Heterodyne reflectometer for film thickness monitoring and method for implementing The present invention is directed to a heterodyne reflectometer system and method for obtaining highly accurate phase shift information from heterodyned optical signals, from which extremely accurate film depths can be calculated. A linearly polarized light comprise... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7333022 | Safety monitoring mechanism of a wafer fabrication platform A safety monitoring mechanism of a wafer fabrication platform is disclosed. The mechanism comprises a vibration sensor mounted at the loading apparatus of the wafer fabrication platform for detecting vibration generated during the operation of the loading apparatus;... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7330276 | Optical interference substrate, target detecting substrate, target detecting apparatus, and target detecting process Provided are target detection substrate for target detecting apparatuses capable of detecting various targets such as pathogens, biological substances and toxic substances without using a costly measuring apparatus; which can detect these targets with a low measurem... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7327468 | Opto-acoustic apparatus with optical heterodyning for measuring solid surfaces and thin films In an opto-acoustic measuring device for thin films and solid surfaces, the probe beam is split into a first probe beam portion and a second reference beam portion. The splitting of the probe beam is achieved using a phase mask that also splits the excitation beam. ... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7324210 | Scanning interferometry for thin film thickness and surface measurements A method including: providing a low coherence scanning interferometry data for at least one spatial location of a sample having multiple interfaces, wherein the data is collected using a low coherence scanning interferometer having an illumination geometry and an il... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7321425 | Sensor and methods for measuring select components in sheetmaking systems A sensor for measuring at least selected component in a composition can include: (a) a broadband light source, (b) an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF), (c) means for generating a beam of light from the light source and directing the beam of light at the AOTF wher... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7321431 | Method and system for analyzing low-coherence interferometry signals for information about thin film structures Methods and systems are disclosed for analyzing a scanning interferometry signal. A scanning interferometry signal is provided that is produced by a scanning interferometer for a first location of a test object (e.g., a sample having a thin film). A model function o... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7312154 | Method of polishing a semiconductor-on-insulator structure A method of polishing a semiconductor layer formed on a transparent substrate is described, the method including measuring the thickness of the semiconductor from the substrate side of the semiconductor layer simultaneously with the polishing, and using the thicknes... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7307735 | Method for determining the depth of a buried structure The present invention relates to a method for determining the depth of a buried structure in a semiconductor wafer. According to the invention, the layer behavior of the semiconductor wafer which is brought about by the buried structure when the semiconductor wafer ... | 12/11/2007 |
| 7304744 | Apparatus and method for measuring the thickness of a thin film via the intensity of reflected light A thin film thickness measurement apparatus that can measure immediately after film growth thickness of a thin film of a substrate that is grown includes a light receiving/projecting unit directing light substantially perpendicular to the substrate and receiving lig... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7301149 | Apparatus and method for determining a thickness of a deposited material Method and apparatus for determining a thickness of a deposited material. Energy is passed through the deposited material, wherein some of the energy is transmitted. The transmitted energy is received, and the received energy is used to determine a thickness of the ... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7295330 | Film mapping system A materials properties measuring system for using electromagnetic radiation interactions with selected materials positioned at a measuring location to determine selected properties thereof having an electromagnetic radiation source along with a plurality of radiatio... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7292349 | Method for biomolecular sensing and system thereof A sensing system and method for biomolecular sensing. The system includes: a receptor for the at least one target, the receptor including a substrate and a transparent coating on the substrate having front and back surfaces; a light source positioned to direct at le... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7289233 | Optical film measuring device Light emitted from a light source (22) is used through a light projection optical system (23) to perform coaxial down-emission lighting on a measurement target (36). Light reflected by the measurement target (36) is formed on a photo-dete... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7289872 | Method and apparatus for prediction of polishing condition, and computer product A polishing-condition predicting apparatus determines optimum parameters to be substituted into various function models by performing calibration by use of a TEG. A polishing condition enabling polishing of a thin film formed on a substrate to be designed so as to o... | 10/30/2007 |
