Did You Know...
...that while attempting to develop a super strong glue, 3M employee Spencer Silver accidentally developed a glue that was so weak it would barely hold two pieces of paper together? However, his colleague Art Fry needed the glue. Fry sang with his church choir and marked the pages of his hymnal with small scraps of paper that often fell out. He used Silver's glue to hold the papers in place. Today we call this invention Post-it Notes.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8163140 | Reactive sputtering method and device The present invention provides a method for reactive sputtering in which a reactive sputtering apparatus including a sputtering vaporization source 2 provided with a metal target disposed in a vacuum chamber 1, a sputtering power source 4 to dri... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8133361 | Thin film coating system and method A method and system for depositing a thin film on a substrate. In the system a target material is deposited and reacted on a substrate surface to form a substantially non-absorbing thin film. The volume of non-absorbing thin film formed per unit of time may be incre... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8133359 | Methods and apparatus for sputtering deposition using direct current An apparatus and methods for plasma-based sputtering deposition using a direct current power supply is disclosed. In one embodiment, a plasma is generated by connecting a plurality of electrodes to a supply of current, and a polarity of voltage applied to each of a ... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8133360 | Prediction and compensation of erosion in a magnetron sputtering target When a magnetron is scanned about the back of a target in a selected complex path having radial components, the erosion profile has a form depending upon the selection of paths. A radial erosion rate profile for a given magnetron is measured. Periodically during sca... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8118981 | Sputtering apparatus and method for controlling the same The present invention provides a multi-target sputtering apparatus including an increased number of targets which can be sputtered simultaneously, and a method for controlling the sputtering apparatus. In one embodiment of the present invention, first and second shu... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8118982 | Gas flow set-up for multiple, interacting reactive sputter sources A method and apparatus for physical vapor deposition of films on a substrate is provided. The apparatus comprises a series of connected sputtering chambers through which a substrate passes to undergo sequential deposition processes. The chambers have passages throug... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8114256 | Control of arbitrary scan path of a rotating magnetron A control system and method for controlling two motors determining the azimuthal and circumferential position of a magnetron rotating about the central axis of the sputter chamber in back of its target sputtering and capable of a nearly arbitrary scan path, e.g., wi... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8105467 | High strength sputtering target for forming phosphor film in electroluminescence element Provided is a sputtering target for forming a phosphor film in an electroluminescence element, which can maintain high strength even when it is allowed to stand in the atmosphere for a long time. The target has a chemical composition of Al: 20 to 50 mass %, Eu: 1 to... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8105466 | Biased pulse DC reactive sputtering of oxide films A biased pulse DC reactor for sputtering of oxide films is presented. The biased pulse DC reactor couples pulsed DC at a particular frequency to the target through a filter which filters out the effects of a bias power applied to the substrate, protecting the pulsed... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8007641 | Method of detecting arc discharges in a plasma process An arc discharge detection device is used for detecting arc discharges in a plasma process. The arc discharge detection device includes a comparator to which an instantaneous signal and a reference value are supplied. The reference value is formed by a setting means... | 08/30/2011 |
| 7988833 | System and method for detecting non-cathode arcing in a plasma generation apparatus A system and method for detecting the potential of non-cathode arcing in a plasma generation apparatus, such as a physical vapor deposition chamber. The system and method involve computing a statistical parameter of cathode-arcing event data in the chamber and perfo... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7972483 | Method of fault detection for material process system A method for material processing utilizing a material processing system to perform a process. The method performs a process (510), measures a scan of data (520), and transforms the data scan (530) into a signature (540) including at least... | 07/05/2011 |
| 7763150 | Method and device for magnetron sputtering A method and device for magnetron sputtering are provided. A magnetron coating system includes a first coating source and an auxiliary substrate arranged between the first coating source and an area into which a substrate to be coated is to be received. The system a... | 07/27/2010 |
| 7569123 | Optimizing target erosion using multiple erosion regions in a magnetron sputtering apparatus In one embodiment, the erosion profile of a shaped target (e.g., hollow cathode target) of a magnetron apparatus is enhanced by using a plurality of sputtering tracks, such as plasma loops, on the target. The erosion profile may be optimized by recording the erosion... | 08/04/2009 |
| 7566384 | System and apparatus for real-time monitoring and control of sputter target erosion The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for real-time monitoring and controlling surface area erosion of a sputter target assembly utilized in a physical vapor deposition process. ... | 07/28/2009 |
| 7556718 | Highly ionized PVD with moving magnetic field envelope for uniform coverage of feature structure and wafer This invention relates to ionized PVD processing of semiconductor wafers and provides conditions for highly uniform deposition-etch process sequence and coverage capabilities of high aspect ratio (HAR) features within a single processing chamber. A plasma is generat... | 07/07/2009 |
| 7476301 | Procedure and device for the production of a plasma The present invention concerns a procedure for the production of a plasma that is at least co-produced in the vacuum chamber (1a) of a vacuum recipient (1) of a device suitable for plasma processing with at least one induction coil (2) ca... | 01/13/2009 |
| 7422664 | Method for plasma ignition A method for igniting a plasma in a semiconductor process chamber is provided herein. In one embodiment, a method for igniting a plasma in a semiconductor substrate process chamber having an electrically isolated anode, wherein the plasma has failed to ignite upon a... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7388201 | Radiation detector having coated nanostructure and method A radiation detector has an electron emitter that includes a coated nanostructure on a support. The nanostructure can include a plurality of nanoneedles. A nanoneedle is a shaft tapering from a base portion toward a tip portion. The tip portion has a diameter betwee... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7378001 | Magnetron sputtering A magnetron sputtering apparatus has a controller for selectively releasing the spread of plasma on a substrate on a support. The controller can also contain the plasma when the substrate is to be coated with the target material. This enables cleaning of the target ... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7371692 | Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a W/WN/polysilicon layered film A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes the steps of consecutively depositing a Poly-Si layer, a WN layer and a W layer on a SiO2 layer, forming a mask pattern on the W layer, selectively etching the W layer by using plasma in a first e... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7368041 | Method for controlling plasma density or the distribution thereof Method for manufacturing magnetron sputter-coated workpieces includes placing a substrate adjacent a magnetron source having a target cathode, generating above the target cathode, at least one plasma loop by an electron trap established by generating a magnetic fiel... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7351346 | Non-photolithographic method for forming a wire grid polarizer for optical and infrared wavelengths A method for forming a plurality of parallel metal lines on a substrate of thin film elastomeric material and a wire grid polarizer formed by such method. A sacrificial layer is formed by coating the substrate with a water soluble polymer while the substrate is stre... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7342716 | Multiple cavity low-emissivity coatings Multiple cavity low-emissivity coatings. The coating includes three infrared-reflection film regions, which may each include silver. ... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7339728 | Low-emissivity coatings having high visible transmission and low solar heat gain coefficient Low-emissivity coatings that are highly reflective to infrared radiation. The coating includes three infrared-reflection film regions, which may each include silver. ... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7338581 | Sputtering apparatus A sputtering apparatus includes paired targets 31 disposed in a vacuum chamber 30, substrate holder 33 disposed at a position nearly perpendicular to the paired target 31 and apart from a space formed by the paired targets 31, a pl... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7335282 | Sputtering using an unbalanced magnetron A sputtering process and magnetron especially advantageous for low-pressure plasma sputtering or sustained self-sputtering, in which the magnetron has a reduced area but full target coverage. The magnetron includes an outer pole face surrounding an inner pole face w... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7324865 | Run-to-run control method for automated control of metal deposition processes A method is provided, the method comprising monitoring consumption of a sputter target to determine a deposition rate of a metal layer during metal deposition processing using the sputter target, and modeling a dependence of the deposition rate on at least one of de... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7316764 | System and method for performing sputter etching using independent ion and electron sources and a substrate biased with an a-symmetric bi-polar DC pulse signal A system and method for performing sputter etching includes an ion source that generates an ion current that is directed at a substrate and an electron source that generates an electron current directed at the substrate. Biasing circuitry biases the substrate with a... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7312974 | Electrostatic chuck The electrostatic chuck includes: a conductive base formed of metal or both metal and ceramics, serving as a chucking electrode; and an insulating film formed on one principal plane of the conductive base, the top face of the insulating film serving as a placing sur... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7305311 | Arc detection and handling in radio frequency power applications A radio frequency power delivery system comprises an RF power generator, arc detection circuitry, and control logic responsive to the arc detection circuitry. A dynamic boundary is computed about the measured value of a parameter representative of or related to the ... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7301286 | Method of detecting an arc in a glow-discharge device and apparatus for controlling a high-frequency arc discharge In a method of detecting arc discharge in a glow-discharge apparatus GD that has a high-frequency power source PS, a cutting pulse is output for time T1 to the high-frequency power source PS to stop a supply of power to the glow-discharge apparatus GD, when dVr/dtâˆ... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7294404 | Graded photocatalytic coatings The invention provides graded photocatalytic coatings. In one aspect, the invention provides a substrate carrying a photocatalytic coating that includes a first graded film region and a second graded film region. The first graded film region has a substantially cont... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7286888 | Automated manufacturing control system An automated manufacturing control system is proposed to greatly reduce the human interaction relative to the data transfer, physical verification and process control associated with the movement of components, tooling and operators in a manufacturing system. This i... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7282122 | Method and system for target lifetime A method and system for determining a lifetime of a target for a physical vapor deposition tool (302), has, a mapping table (304a) of criteria for a minimum accumulating rate of Δ wafers fabricated by Δ target life for a target in the tool; an... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7282121 | Manufacturing method and apparatus of phase shift mask blank There is disclosed a manufacturing method of a phase shift mask blank in which dispersions of phase angle and transmittance among blanks can be reduced as much as possible and yield is satisfactory. In the manufacturing method of the phase shift mask blank, a proces... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7270763 | Anisotropic wet etching of silicon A silicon oxide film is formed on one principal surface of a silicon substrate by thermal oxidation, and thereafter, a silicon nitride film is formed on the silicon oxide film by CVD. A lamination layer of the silicon oxide film and silicon nitride film is selective... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7262606 | Method of arc detection New methods are used for detecting arcs in a plasma process that is fed by, for example, a freely oscillating AC generator with an output signal of the AC generator for supplying power. The method includes measuring or determining a reference value that is based on ... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7261797 | Passive bipolar arc control system and method A method and system for controlling arcs in a DC sputtering system with a passive circuit is presented. The arc control system includes a sputtering chamber that houses an anode and a sputtering target formed from a target material and serving as a cathode. A DC pow... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7253109 | Method of depositing a tantalum nitride/tantalum diffusion barrier layer system We have discovered a method of providing a thin, approximately from about 2 â„« to about 100 â„« thick TaN seed layer, which can be used to induce the formation of alpha tantalum when tantalum is deposited over the TaN seed layer. Further, the ... | 08/07/2007 |
