Did You Know...
...that the Slinky toy was the result of a failed attempt by engineer Richard James to produce an antivibration device for ship instruments? His goal was to develop a spring that would instantaneously counterbalance the wave motion that rocks a ship at sea. Instead, he developed the Slinky.
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 |
| 8008641 | Method and apparatus for inspecting objects using multiple images having varying optical properties An automated object inspection system is presented. The inspection system includes an imaging system to produce at least two images of said object having different optical properties and an analyzer coupled to the imaging system to receive the images and to perform ... | 08/30/2011 |
| 7411207 | Method and its apparatus for inspecting particles or defects of a semiconductor device An apparatus for inspecting particles and/or pattern defects of an object under inspection. Data processing means obtains information on size of the particles and/or the pattern defects from an intensity of the scattered light detected by the light detecting means b... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7348585 | Surface inspection apparatus A surface inspection apparatus of the present invention includes an irradiation optical unit having a multibeam irradiation optical unit for converging and irradiating multiple beams upon a surface of an object to be inspected; a detector which has a light-condensin... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7317521 | Particle detection method A method for detecting on a substrate used in the fabrication of integrated devices comprises the steps of (1) contacting the substrate with a monomer, wherein the particle catalyzes the polymerization of the monomer, and (2) detecting the particle using a particle ... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7294206 | Apparatus and method for simultaneously coating and measuring parts An apparatus and method for simultaneously coating and measuring a part including a part support, a sprayer, a part measurer including a digital camera and a display device, all of which are positioned adjacent to the part support. The sprayer applies a coating to a... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7289231 | Apparatus and method for determining physical properties of a mask blank An apparatus for determining physical properties of a mask blank. The apparatus includes, for example, an illumination device for radiating a predetermined light laterally into the mask blank, a detection device opposite the illumination device for detecting the lig... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7283222 | Optical measuring device An optical measuring device according to the present invention includes: a plane mirror (3), which has a central opening that functions as either a light entering window or a light source fitting hole (5) and an observation window 6′ that enab... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7262425 | Method and its apparatus for inspecting particles or defects of a semiconductor device An apparatus for optically inspecting particles and/or defects correlates sizes of particles and/or defects to a cause of failure in an inspection result. A data processing circuit points out a cause of failure from the statistics on the inspection result, and displ... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7256412 | Method and its apparatus for inspecting particles or defects of a semiconductor device Conventionally, a particle/defect inspection apparatus outputs a total number of detected particles/defects as the result of detection. For taking countermeasures to failures in manufacturing processes, the particles/defects detected by the inspection apparatus are ... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7256884 | Particle detecting system and method of detecting particles using the same There is provided a particle detector system and to detect particles on target including reticle and pellicle. The system includes a light transmitting device adapted to transmit light beam to a target through an electrowetting microlens, a light receiving device ad... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7242467 | Method and apparatus for high-resolution defect location and classification In the manufacture of integrated circuits on a wafer, it is necessary to monitor the manufacturing process by inspecting the ICs as to whether errors or defects have occurred during production. It is already known to use a scattered-light device (32) to deter... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7242016 | Surface inspection apparatus and method thereof A surface inspection apparatus and a method for inspecting the surface of a sample are capable of inspecting discriminatingly between scratches of various configuration and adhered foreign objects that occur on the surface of a work target when the work target (for ... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7200257 | Structure and methodology for fabrication and inspection of photomasks A photomask, method of designing, of fabricating, of designing, a method of inspecting and a system for designing the photomask. The photomask, includes: a cell region, the cell region comprising one or more chip regions, each chip region comprising a pattern of opa... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7180584 | Manufacturing method of semiconductor substrate and method and apparatus for inspecting defects of patterns of an object to be inspected A pattern detection method and apparatus thereof for inspecting with high resolution a micro fine defect of a pattern on an inspected object and a semiconductor substrate manufacturing method and system for manufacturing semiconductor substrates such as semiconducto... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7177020 | Method and apparatus for analyzing the state of generation of foreign particles in semiconductor fabrication process An apparatus and method for detecting defects on a specimen includes an illumination optical unit which obliquely projects a laser onto a region which is longer in one direction on a surface of a specimen than in a transverse direction, a table unit which mounts the... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7173270 | Detector system for detecting a height of a particle, and lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method including the same. A lithographic apparatus transfers a pattern from a patterning device onto a substrate and includes a projection system to project a patterned radiation beam onto the substrate; a controllable actuator to adjust a distance between the projection system and the subst... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7161669 | Wafer edge inspection In one embodiment, a system to inspect an edge region of a wafer, comprises a surface analyzer assembly comprising a radiation targeting assembly that targets a radiation beam onto a surface of the wafer; a reflected radiation collection assembly to collect radiatio... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7161671 | Method and apparatus for inspecting defects Laser lights having a plurality of wavelengths from DUV to VUV range are used to inspect defects of a pattern at high speeds and in a high sensitivity using high light-output lasers, while solving a temporal/spatial coherence problem caused by using lasers as light ... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7115892 | Method and its apparatus for inspecting particles or defects of a semiconductor device Conventionally, a particle/defect inspection apparatus outputs a total number of detected particles/defects as the result of detection. For taking countermeasures to failures in manufacturing processes, the particles/defects detected by the inspection apparatus are ... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7115886 | Lithographic projection apparatus, device manufacturing method and device manufactured thereby In-situ cleaning of optical components for use in a lithographic projection apparatus can be carried out by irradiating a space within the apparatus containing the optical component with UV or EUV radiation having a wavelength of less than 250 nm, in the presence of... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7113627 | Location of extended linear defects A method of locating a linear defect on a photographic element, the element having a useful imaging width and the defect aligned with length of the element, includes the steps of: exposing a region of the element to create a latent image which is substantially unifo... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7078712 | monitoring on an ion implanter The present invention is directed to in-situ detection of particles and other such features in an ion implantation system during implantation operations to avoid such additional monitoring tool steps otherwise expended before and/or after implantation, for example. ... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7065240 | Reticle inspection apparatus A reticle inspection apparatus for detecting defects on a reticle 16 includes an image data generator 42 for generating image data of the reticle 16, a definition analyzer 44 for analyzing definition of image from the image data, a defini... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7061601 | System and method for double sided optical inspection of thin film disks or wafers A double-sided optical inspection system is presented which may detect and classify particles, pits and scratches on thin film disks or wafers in a single scan of the surface. In one embodiment, the invention uses a pair of orthogonally oriented laser beams, one in ... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7061600 | Manufacturing method of semiconductor substrate and method and apparatus for inspecting defects of patterns on an object to be inspected A pattern detection method and apparatus for inspecting, with high resolution, a micro fine defect of a pattern on an inspected object, and a semiconductor substrate manufacturing method and system with a high yield. A micro fine pattern on the inspected object is i... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7049155 | Multi beam scanning with bright/dark field imaging Bright and dark field imaging operations in an optical inspection system occur along substantially the same optical path using the same light source by producing either a circular or an annular laser beam. Multiple beam splitting is achieved through the use of a dif... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7016791 | Particle sizing refinement system A plurality of particle size reference values are specified. Particle size data is obtained based at least in part on the specified plurality of particle size reference values. ... | 03/21/2006 |
| 7006682 | Apparatus for monitoring particles and method of doing the same There is provided an apparatus for monitoring a size of a particle, including (a) a laser beam source which radiates a laser beam to an area in which particles exist, (b) a photodetector which receives the laser beam having been scattered by the particles, and outpu... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6998630 | Method and its apparatus for inspecting particles or defects of a semiconductor device Conventionally, a particle/defect inspection apparatus outputs a total number of detected particles/defects as the result of detection. For taking countermeasures to failures in manufacturing processes, the particles/defects detected by the inspection apparatus are ... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6972422 | Method for measuring particles in glass substrate Particles in a glass substrate are measured by executing following steps: sequentially conveying a plurality of glass substrates; scanning with a camera a unit area of a glass substrate in a direction of a travel path of the glass substrate and storing particle info... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6936835 | Method and its apparatus for inspecting particles or defects of a semiconductor device An apparatus for optically inspecting particles and/or defects correlates sizes of particles and/or defects to a cause of failure in an inspection result. A data processing circuit points out a cause of failure from the statistics on the inspection result, and displ... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6936836 | Method and apparatus for examining fiber material traveling in a fiber processing machine An apparatus for evaluating a fiber web running in a card includes a camera for scanning the fiber web along a length and width portion thereof to detect useful fibers and empty locations in the fiber web and to generate signals representing the useful fibers and em... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6919957 | Methods and systems for determining a critical dimension, a presence of defects, and a thin film characteristic of a specimen Methods and systems for monitoring semiconductor fabrication processes are provided. A system may include a stage configured to support a specimen and coupled to a measurement device. The measurement device may include an illumination system and a detection system. ... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6917419 | Methods and systems for determining flatness, a presence of defects, and a thin film characteristic of a specimen Methods and systems for monitoring semiconductor fabrication processes are provided. A system may include a stage configured to support a specimen and coupled to a measurement device. The measurement device may include an illumination system and a detection system. ... | 07/12/2005 |
| 6912048 | Method and device for identifying foreign bodies in a textile material In a method and a device for identifying foreign bodies in a base textile material, the base textile material is subjected to beams and the beams reflected on the base material are detected and converted into an electrical signal. In order to detect foreign bodies i... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6882414 | Broadband infrared spectral surface spectroscopy The system has a single pulse spectrum capability for sensing the presence of contamination on a surface to be interrogated. The system includes a narrow frequency bandwidth visible pulse and broadband infrared pulse that are directed to the surface. An output wavel... | 04/19/2005 |
| 6845178 | Automatic separation of subject pixels using segmentation based on multiple planes of measurement data A method and apparatus for characterizing pixels in an image of an object surface by providing at least two images of the surface wherein each pixel has a unique location common to all of the images; comparing each pixel value at each location to an identification m... | 01/18/2005 |
| 6813032 | Method and apparatus for enhanced embedded substrate inspection through process data collection and substrate imaging techniques The present invention generally provides an apparatus and a method for inspecting a substrate in a processing system. In one aspect, a par of light sources is used in conjunction with an optical receiving device, such as a camera having a CCD, to illuminate and insp... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6797975 | Method and its apparatus for inspecting particles or defects of a semiconductor device Conventionally, a particle/defect inspection apparatus outputs a total number of detected particles/defects as the result of detection. For taking countermeasures to failures in manufacturing processes, the particles/defects detected by the inspection apparatus are ... | 09/28/2004 |
| 6774991 | Method and apparatus for inspecting a patterned semiconductor wafer A method and apparatus for inspecting a surface of a semiconductor wafer having repetitive patterns for contaminant particles using scattered light which involves directing two beams of light at different approach angles onto the surface in a manner so as to illumin... | 08/10/2004 |
