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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 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 |
| 7359177 | Dual bias frequency plasma reactor with feedback control of E.S.C. voltage using wafer voltage measurement at the bias supply output A plasma reactor has a dual frequency plasma RF bias power supply furnishing RF bias power comprising first and second frequency components, f(1), f(2), respectively, and an RF power path having an input end coupled to the plasma RF bias power supply a... | 04/15/2008 |
| 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 |
| 7306696 | Interferometric endpoint determination in a substrate etching process In determining an endpoint of etching a substrate, light that is directed toward the substrate is reflected from the substrate. A wavelength of the light is selected to locally maximize the intensity of the reflected light at an initial time point of the etching pro... | 12/11/2007 |
| 7247218 | Plasma density, energy and etch rate measurements at bias power input and real time feedback control of plasma source and bias power A plasma reactor process measurement instrument includes an input phase processor receiving wafer bias voltage, current and power and computing an input impedance, an input current and an input voltage to the transmission line; a transmission line processor for comp... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7241397 | Honeycomb optical window deposition shield and method for a plasma processing system An optical window deposition shield including a backing plate having a through hole, and a honeycomb structure having a plurality of adjacent cells configured to allow optical viewing through the honeycomb structure. Each cell of the honeycomb structure has an aspec... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7220937 | Plasma reactor with overhead RF source power electrode with low loss, low arcing tendency and low contamination A gas distribution ceiling electrode for use as a capacitive source power applicator and gas distribution showerhead in a plasma reactor includes a metal base and a process-compatible protective layer on the interior surface of he electrode having a dopant impurity ... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7196283 | Plasma reactor overhead source power electrode with low arcing tendency, cylindrical gas outlets and shaped surface An overhead gas distribution electrode forming at least a portion of the ceiling of a plasma reactor has a bottom surface facing a processing zone of the reactor. The electrode includes a gas supply manifold for receiving process gas at a supply pressure at a top po... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7186943 | MERIE plasma reactor with overhead RF electrode tuned to the plasma with arcing suppression A plasma reactor for processing a semiconductor workpiece, includes a reactor chamber having a chamber wall and containing a workpiece support for holding the semiconductor support, the electrode comprising a portion of the chamber wall, an RF power generator for su... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7184134 | Real-time monitoring apparatus for plasma process A real-time monitoring apparatus for a plasma process comprises a plurality of measuring units (10) mounted on a semiconductor wafer, a receiving device (7) for receiving a signal transmitted from each of the measuring units (10), and a data pro... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7176634 | Coaxial type impedance matching device and impedance detecting method for plasma generation A plasma generating method generates plasma in a treating chamber by controlling a high-frequency generating unit to generate a high-frequency signal and by feeding the high-frequency signal to the treating chamber through an impedance matching device. The plasma ge... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7147747 | Plasma processing apparatus and plasma processing method A plasma processing apparatus having a process chamber in which an object to be processed is subjected to plasma processing includes a light-receiving part for a spectrometer unit, an arithmetic unit, a database, a determination unit and an apparatus controller. The... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7147748 | Plasma processing method A plasma processing method using a plasma processing apparatus having a process chamber in which a substrate is subjected to a plasma processing, a light-receiving part, a spectrometer unit, an arithmetic unit, a database, a determination unit for determining that a... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7147793 | Method of and apparatus for tailoring an etch profile An etch profile tailoring system (100), for use with an etching process carried out on a wafer (130), has a scavenging plate (170) with a baseline etch profile, and at least one etch profile tuning structure (such as a plug) (160) replace... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7144484 | Ion mill shutter system A method for producing magneto resistive heads includes the steps of positioning at least two magneto resistive elements in spaced relation to one another and placing the at least two magneto resistive elements in an ion milling environment where material is removed... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7141757 | Plasma reactor with overhead RF source power electrode having a resonance that is virtually pressure independent A plasma reactor operable over a very wide process window of pressure, source power and bias power includes a resonant circuit consisting of an overhead electrode having a first impedance, a wafer support pedestal having a second impedance and a bulk plasma having a... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7101458 | Plasma processing method and apparatus In a plasma processing method and apparatus for monitoring an operating status of a plasma processing apparatus and/or a processing status of an object being processed, emission spectra emitted from a plasma is obtained as optical data when the plasma process is per... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7048837 | End point detection for sputtering and resputtering Plasma etching or resputtering of a layer of sputtered materials including opaque metal conductor materials may be controlled in a sputter reactor system. In one embodiment, resputtering of a sputter deposited layer is performed after material has been sputtered dep... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7030335 | Plasma reactor with overhead RF electrode tuned to the plasma with arcing suppression A plasma reactor for processing a semiconductor workpiece, includes a reactor chamber having a chamber wall and containing a workpiece support for holding the semiconductor workpiece, an overhead electrode overlying said workpiece support, the electrode comprising a... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7025895 | Plasma processing apparatus and method A plasma processing apparatus and method are capable of performing etching with high precision without damaging the semiconductor wafer. The plasma processing apparatus has a plasma generation power supply for generating a plasma within a processing chamber; a high-... | 04/11/2006 |
| 7019543 | Impedance monitoring system and method An apparatus (14) for and method of measuring impedance in a capacitively coupled plasma reactor system (10). The apparatus includes a high-frequency RF source (150) in electrical communication with an upper electrode (50). A first high-p... | 03/28/2006 |
| 6991701 | Plasma treatment method and apparatus A plasma treatment method comprising exhausting a process chamber so as to decompress the process chamber, mounting a wafer on a suscepter, supplying a process gas to the wafer through a shower electrode, applying high frequency power, which has a first frequency f | 01/31/2006 |
| 6979579 | Methods and apparatus for inspecting contact openings in a plasma processing system In a plasma processing system, a method of inspecting a contact opening of a contact formed in a first layer of the substrate to determine whether the contact reaches a metal layer that is disposed below the first layer is shown. The method includes flowing a gas mi... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6979389 | Micro-actuation apparatus for head ABS planarity (PTR) control during slider machining An apparatus and method of machining sliders to obtain the optimum PTR for each slider. An array of MEMS devices configured for angular actuation are provided, and a slider is placed in each MEMS device of the array. The ion milling of the sliders is controlled indi... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6939813 | Apparatus for improved low pressure inductively coupled high density plasma reactor A plasma reactor comprises an electromagnetic energy source coupled to a radiator through first and second variable impedance networks. The plasma reactor includes a chamber having a dielectric window that is proximate to the radiator. A shield is positioned between... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6933081 | Method for quartz bump defect repair with less substrate damage A method for minimizing damage to a substrate while repairing a defect in a phase shifting mask for an integrated circuit comprising locating a bump defect in a phase shifting mask, depositing a first layer of protective coating to an upper surface of the bump defec... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6919279 | Endpoint detection for high density plasma (HDP) processes A method and system are provided for endpoint detection of plasma chamber cleaning or plasma etch processes. Optical emission spectroscopy is utilized to determine a spectral emission ratio of two or more light emitting reaction components at wavelengths in close pr... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6887317 | Reduced friction lift pin A substrate support is provided that features a lift pin having at least one larger diameter shoulder section that forms a relief region between the lift pin and a guide hole disposed through a substrate support. The shoulder section minimizes contact between the su... | 05/03/2005 |
| 6846639 | Method for detecting pathogens attached to specific antibodies The use of impedance measurements to detect the presence of pathogens attached to antibody-coated beads. In a fluidic device antibodies are immobilized on a surface of a patterned interdigitated electrode. Pathogens in a sample fluid streaming past the electrode att... | 01/25/2005 |
| 6835552 | Impedance measurements for detecting pathogens attached to antibodies The use of impedance measurements to detect the presence of pathogens attached to antibody-coated beads. In a fluidic device antibodies are immobilized on a surface of a patterned interdigitated electrode. Pathogens in a sample fluid streaming past the electrode att... | 12/28/2004 |
| 6830649 | Apparatus and method for producing semiconductors A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising an integrated measuring instrument for measuring the form or size of the element to be formed into a wafer, an etching unit for etching the wafer by making use of plasma generated under reduced pressure, an ashing u... | 12/14/2004 |
| 6821377 | Plasma processing apparatus A plasma etching apparatus for a semiconductor wafer generates plasma in a plasma generation space between a susceptor and a showerhead. A shield member is detachably disposed inside the sidewall of a process chamber to prevent reaction products from sticking to the... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6773557 | System for frequency adjustment of piezoelectric resonators by dual-track ion etching System for frequency adjustment of piezoelectric resonators by ion etching in vacuum, based on arranging the resonators in rows and columns on a tray that can be moved to simultaneously expose two rows of resonators to the two straight-track portions of an ion gun h... | 08/10/2004 |
| 6740195 | Detection of nontransient processing anomalies in vacuum manufacturing process A sensor, such as a mass spectrometer, capable of detecting the presence of materials in a sampled gas is interconnected with a processing chamber of a vacuum manufacturing tool. The sensor includes a timing circuit which is activated only if certain levels of speci... | 05/25/2004 |
| 6669810 | Method for detecting etching endpoint, and etching apparatus and etching system using the method thereof A method for detecting an etching endpoint and a plasma etching apparatus and a plasma etching system using such a device are disclosed, in which time series data of a signal corresponding to the amount of light of the plasma light generated during the pl... | 12/30/2003 |
| 6641747 | Method and apparatus for determining an etch endpoint An apparatus and method for detecting an endpoint for an etching process utilize a reaction chamber with an ion source and detector placed within the reaction chamber. The ion source directs a primary beam of ions towards a wafer so that the ion beam impa... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6562186 | Apparatus for plasma processing A plasma etching apparatus for a semiconductor wafer generates plasma in a plasma generation space between a susceptor and a showerhead. A shield member is detachably disposed inside the sidewall of a process chamber to prevent reaction products from stic... | 05/13/2003 |
| 6545468 | Calibration method for magnetically enhanced reactive ion etcher A method of calibrating the magnetic coils of a magnetically enhanced reactive ion etcher includes taking magnetic field measurements outside of a closed plasma chamber and correlating such measurements to the magnetic field within the chamber. One or mor... | 04/08/2003 |
| 6541729 | Monitoring and controlling separate plasma jets to achieve desired properties in a combined stream A plasma apparatus separately measures multiple plasma jets upstream of where the plasma jets converge into a combined plasma stream. The separate plasma jets can be separately adjusted to place the separate jets in a configuration that provides the combi... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6451159 | Grounded centering ring for inhibiting polymer build-up on the diaphragm of a manometer A grid protects a manometer diaphragm from plasma. A plasma chamber is used to generate a plasma. A manometer is used to measure the pressure in the plasma chamber. A grounded electrically conductive grid is used to screen out ions in the plasma before th... | 09/17/2002 |
