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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8183062 | Creating metal gate structures using Lithography-Etch-Lithography-Etch (LELE) processing sequences The invention can provide apparatus and methods of creating metal gate structures on wafers in real-time using Lithography-Etch-Lithography-Etch (LELE) processing sequence. Real-time data and/or historical data associated with LELE processing sequences can be fed fo... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8168451 | Optical inspection methods Inspection methods. A method includes adhering an optical blocking layer directly onto and in direct mechanical contact with a semiconductor process wafer, the blocking layer being substantially opaque to a range of wavelengths of light; applying at least one layer ... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8163574 | System and method for sensing voltage in medium-to-high voltage applications A system and method for measuring voltage of a medium to high voltage line conductor is disclosed. The system includes an electrical insulator having a surface and an edge, the surface having an opening therein to allow passage of a line conductor therethrough in a ... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8143077 | Microchip and method of manufacturing microchip A microchip formed by joining a first substrate having at least one recess on its surface and a second substrate, wherein small projections of 0.5 to 30 μm in height are formed on at least a part of the surface having the recess of the first substrate, and a coatin... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8143078 | Methods for monitoring the amount of contamination imparted into semiconductor wafers during wafer processing Methods are disclosed for monitoring the amount of metal contamination imparted during wafer processing operations such as polishing and cleaning. The methods include subjecting a silicon-on-insulator structure to the semiconductor process, precipitating metal conta... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8129203 | Auto feedback apparatus for laser marking A method of manufacturing integrated circuits includes measuring a reflectivity value of a wafer. An optimum energy level for laser marking the wafer is determined using the reflectivity value. A laser beam having the optimum energy level is then emitted to make las... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8088633 | Optical alignment methods for forming LEDs having a rough surface A method of aligning a wafer when lithographically fabricating a light-emitting diode (LED). The method includes forming on the wafer at least one roughened alignment mark having a root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughness σS. The roughened alignment mark... | 01/03/2012 |
| 8080434 | Nondestructive testing method for oxide semiconductor layer and method for making oxide semiconductor layer A nondestructive testing method for an oxide semiconductor layer includes the steps of applying excitation light to an amorphous or polycrystalline target oxide semiconductor layer to be tested and measuring an intensity of photoluminescence in a wavelength region l... | 12/20/2011 |
| 8082536 | Semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing process evaluation method A method for evaluating a process of manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit including a deposition step and a polishing step after the deposition step, the method includes: dividing the semiconductor integrated circuit into a plurality of areas; determinin... | 12/20/2011 |
| 8071398 | Method and structure of monolithically integrated IC-MEMS oscillator using IC foundry-compatible processes The present invention relates to integrating an inertial mechanical device on top of an IC substrate monolithically using IC-foundry compatible processes. The IC substrate is completed first using standard IC processes. A thick silicon layer is added on top of the I... | 12/06/2011 |
| 8067252 | Method for determining low-noise power spectral density for characterizing line edge roughness in semiconductor wafer processing According to one exemplary embodiment, a method for determining a power spectral density of an edge of at least one patterned feature situated over a semiconductor wafer includes measuring the edge of the at least one patterned feature at a number of points on the e... | 11/29/2011 |
| 8058081 | Method of testing an integrity of a material layer in a semiconductor structure A method comprises providing a semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure comprises a feature comprising a first material and a layer of a second material formed over the feature. The semiconductor structure is exposed to an etchant. The etchant is adapted... | 11/15/2011 |
| 8043871 | Method for forming oxide film on silicon wafer The present invention provides a method for forming an oxide film on a silicon wafer, comprising: measuring surface roughness of the silicon wafer and/or crystallinity in a surface layer portion of the silicon wafer in advance; adjusting oxidizing conditions for the... | 10/25/2011 |
| 8034641 | Method for inspection of defects on a substrate A method for inspection of defects on a substrate includes positioning a probe of a scanning probe microscopy (SPM) over and spaced apart from a substrate, includes scanning the substrate by changing a relative position of the probe with respect to the substrate on ... | 10/11/2011 |
| 7989231 | Method of manufacturing silicon carbide semiconductor device In a method of manufacturing a silicon carbide semiconductor device, a trench and a thickness measurement section are formed in a surface of a semiconductor substrate made of silicon carbide. The thickness measurement section includes a plurality of grooves and a pr... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7977123 | Arrangements and methods for improving bevel etch repeatability among substrates A method, performed in connection with bevel etching of a substrate, for improving bevel-etch repeatability among substrates, is disclosed. The method includes providing an optical arrangement and ascertaining at least one bevel edge characteristic of a bevel edge o... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7955876 | Method for simulating deposition film shape and method for manufacturing electronic device A deposition film shape simulation method for calculating a thickness of a thin-film formed by supplying deposition species on a substrate surface, includes: changing a parameter to be used in the calculation depending on the thickness of the deposited thin-film. | 06/07/2011 |
| 7927894 | Apparatus for aligning an optical device an object, an optical instrument and a semiconductor process system The present invention relates to an apparatus (10) for aligning an optical device with an object. The apparatus comprises, a frame (12), a support unit (16) for supporting said optical device or said object and a transportation device (14... | 04/19/2011 |
| 7923267 | Method of measuring length of measurement object article in micro-structure A substrate comprises a substrate main body having a surface on which a measurement object article is to be formed. A reference scale is disposed on the surface of the substrate main body in the vicinity of a region of the surface where the measurement object articl... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7906351 | Method for metal gate quality characterization Measuring the amount of unreacted polysilicon gate material in a fully silicided (FUSI) nickel silicide gate process for metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) to guide process development and monitor IC production requires a stati... | 03/15/2011 |
| 7858403 | Methods and systems for fabricating broad spectrum light emitting devices Broad spectrum light emitting devices and methods and systems for fabricating such devices are provide. Such devices may include a light emitting element, such as a diode or laser, which emits light in a predefined range of frequencies, and luminous material on the ... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7858404 | Measurement of overlay offset in semiconductor processing A method of semiconductor manufacturing including forming an overlay offset measurement target including a first feature on a first layer and a second feature on a second layer. The first feature and the second feature have a first predetermined overlay offset. The ... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7855089 | Application specific solar cell and method for manufacture using thin film photovoltaic materials A method for manufacture of application specific solar cells includes providing and processing custom design information to determine at least a cell size and a cell shape. The method includes providing a transparent substrate having a back surface region, a front s... | 12/21/2010 |
| 7855088 | Method for manufacturing integrated circuits by guardbanding die regions The invention provides a method for manufacturing an integrated circuit. The method, in one embodiment, includes inspecting a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of die for a defect, the inspecting providing an image of the semiconductor wafer including the de... | 12/21/2010 |
| 7842521 | Edge exclusion zone patterning for solar cells and the like The edge profile (and optionally the physical and electrical characteristics) of a wafer is determined. Useful regions of the wafer in an edge exclusion zone may then be identified. A customized grid array layout is created specific to that wafer from an analysis of... | 11/30/2010 |
| 7842520 | Method for manufacturing semiconductor device, semiconductor inspection device, and program including color imaging of metal silicide and calculations thereof A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device capable of efficiently inspecting whether a metal silicide layer is sufficiently formed is provided. The manufacturing method is provided with the steps of forming a metal layer over a semiconductor layer containing s... | 11/30/2010 |
| 7833807 | Method of manufacturing semiconductor laser for communication, semiconductor laser for communication and optical transmission module Some semiconductor lasers have an initial failure mode that is advanced as the amount of optical power therein, namely, the amount of optical output observed from the outside increases in almost independent of the temperature. The initial failure mode that is advanc... | 11/16/2010 |
| 7824932 | Fabrication method of semiconductor device A technique is provided which can exactly recognize a chip to be picked up when picking up the chip from a wafer sheet in a process of die bonding a thin chip. A camera is coupled to one end of a lens barrel, an objective lens is attached to an opposite end of the l... | 11/02/2010 |
| 7790480 | Method for determining relative swing curve amplitude A process (300) is disclosed to measure predetermined wavelength reflectance spectra of a photo resist coated wafer (305,310,315,320) at a nominal thickness. After coating, the predetermined wavelength reflectance (325,330) is measured and the p... | 09/07/2010 |
| 7781237 | Alignment marker and lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using the same An apparatus includes a first support structure configured to support an element that has an alignment marker provided with at least one height difference. The apparatus also includes an alignment sensor comprising a light source that is configured to provide a ligh... | 08/24/2010 |
| 7754503 | Method for producing semiconductor device and semiconductor producing apparatus A plasma of a gas containing an impurity is produced through a discharge in a vacuum chamber, and a plurality of substrates are successively doped with the impurity by using the plasma, wherein a plasma doping condition of a subject substrate is adjusted based on an... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7736918 | Photoresist coating apparatus having nozzle monitoring unit and method for supplying photoresist using the same Provided are a photoresist coating apparatus and a method of coating photoresist using the same. The apparatus includes a photoresist supply line through which photoresist is supplied. A fluid control valve is connected to the photoresist supply line to control the ... | 06/15/2010 |
| 7732227 | Method and apparatus for wall film monitoring A wall film monitoring system includes first and second microwave mirrors in a plasma processing chamber each having a concave surface. The concave surface of the second mirror is oriented opposite the concave surface of the first mirror. A power source is coupled t... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7727782 | Apparatus for improving incoming and outgoing wafer inspection productivity in a wafer reclaim factory An apparatus and method for inspecting wafers at a reclaim factory is described. Embodiments of the invention describe an apparatus in which a wafer ID and wafer thickness may be simultaneously measured. A wafer is placed onto a sloped surface and positioned by alig... | 06/01/2010 |
| 7718447 | System and method for estimating the crystallinity of stacked metal lines in microstructures By performing x-ray analysis of stacked metallization layers on the basis of data reduction, the crystalline structure of individual metallization layers may be determined. Consequently, a relationship between electromigration and crystallinity, as well as a correla... | 05/18/2010 |
| 7704758 | Optical device and its manufacturing method, and optical device wafer A method for manufacturing an optical device, the method includes the steps of: forming a multilayer film, including forming a first mirror above a substrate, forming an active layer above the first mirror, forming a second mirror above the active layer, forming a s... | 04/27/2010 |
| 7700382 | Impurity introducing method using optical characteristics to determine annealing conditions A subject of the present invention is to realize an impurity doping not to bring about a rise of a substrate temperature. Another subject of the present invention is to measure optically physical properties of a lattice defect generated by the impurity doping... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7700383 | Manufacturing method for semiconductor device and determination method for position of semiconductor element A manufacturing method for a semiconductor device comprises: mounting a semiconductor element, having an alignment mark, on a substrate; forming a composite of metal film and insulating film such that the surface of the semiconductor element is covered therewith; an... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7682845 | Methods for calibrating a process for growing an epitaxial silicon film and methods for growing an epitaxial silicon film Methods are provided for calibrating a process for growing an epitaxial silicon-comprising film and for growing an epitaxial silicon-comprising film. One method comprises epitaxially growing a first silicon-comprising film on a first silicon substrate that has an ad... | 03/23/2010 |
| 7682844 | Silicon substrate processing method for observing defects in semiconductor devices and defect-detecting method A silicon substrate processing method for reducing the thickness of an area of a silicon substrate on which a metal layer is formed to implement a semiconductor integrated circuit is disclosed. The method includes: (A) a process which evenly reduces the thickness of... | 03/23/2010 |
