| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| RE40225 |
Two-dimensional beam deflector |
April 8, 2008 |
| A two dimensional beam deflector is disclosed which deflects beams from multiple optical assemblies. The input of beams of the multiple optical assemblies follow parallel optical paths until deflection to a wafer. An ellipsometer using a two-dimensional beam deflector is also disclosed. |
| RE38153 |
Two-dimensional beam deflector |
June 24, 2003 |
| A two dimensional beam deflector is disclosed which deflects beams from multiple optical assemblies. The input of beams of the multiple optical assemblies follow parallel optical paths until deflection to a wafer. An ellipsometer using a two-dimensional beam deflector is also disclosed. |
| 7626710 |
Method and system for measuring patterned structures |
December 1, 2009 |
| A method and system are presented for determining a line profile in a patterned structure, aimed at controlling a process of manufacture of the structure. The patterned structure comprises a plurality of different layers, the pattern in the structure being formed by patterned regions |
| 7614932 |
Method and system for endpoint detection |
November 10, 2009 |
| A method and system are presented for monitoring a process sequentially applied to a stream of substantially identical articles by a processing tool, so as to terminate the operation of the processing tool upon detecting an end-point signal corresponding to a predetermined value of a |
| 7595896 |
Thin films measurement method and system |
September 29, 2009 |
| A method and system are presented for use in controlling the processing of a structure. First measured data is provided being indicative of at least one of the following: a thickness (d.sub.2) of at least one layer (L.sub.2) of the structure W in at least selected sites of the structure |
| 7532414 |
Reflective optical system |
May 12, 2009 |
| A lens arrangement is presented. The lens arrangement comprises a first element having a concave reflective surface and defining an optical axis of the lens arrangement, and a second substantially flat and at least partially reflective element spaced-apart from the first element along |
| 7525634 |
Monitoring apparatus and method particularly useful in photolithographically |
April 28, 2009 |
| Apparatus for processing substrates according to a predetermined photolithography process includes a loading station in which the substrates are loaded, a coating station in which the substrates are coated with a photoresist material, an exposing station in which the photoresist coat |
| 7495782 |
Method and system for measuring patterned structures |
February 24, 2009 |
| A method and system are presented for determining a line profile in a patterned structure, aimed at controlling a process of manufacture of the structure. The patterned structure comprises a plurality of different layers, the pattern in the structure being formed by patterned regions |
| 7482596 |
Vacuum UV based optical measuring method and system |
January 27, 2009 |
| A method and system are presented for use in optical processing of an article by VUV radiation. The method comprises: localizing incident VUV radiation propagation from an optical head assembly towards a processing site on the article outside the optical head assembly and localizing |
| 7477405 |
Method and system for measuring patterned structures |
January 13, 2009 |
| A measurement method and system configured to determine parameters of a structure during production, the system including: a stage configured to support the structure during measurements; a measuring unit coupled to the stage; and a processor coupled to the measuring unit. The measuring |
| 7330259 |
Optical measurements of patterned articles |
February 12, 2008 |
| A method and system are presented for use in measuring/inspecting a patterned article. Optical measurements are applied to a measurement site on the article by illuminating the measurement site with a plurality of wavelengths at substantially normal incidence of the illuminating light, |
| 7327476 |
Thin films measurement method and system |
February 5, 2008 |
| A method and system are presented for use in controlling the processing of a structure. First measured data is provided being indicative of at least one of the following: a thickness (d.sub.2) of at least one layer (L.sub.2) of the structure W in at least selected sites of the structure |
| 7320265 |
Article transfer system |
January 22, 2008 |
| A system for controlling an axial movement of an article is presented. The system comprises a support stage assembly and a spring suspension arrangement mounted on the support stage assembly. The spring suspension arrangement comprises first and second assemblies arranged in a coaxial |
| 7301163 |
Lateral shift measurement using an optical technique |
November 27, 2007 |
| Alignment of layers during manufacture of a multi-layer sample is controlled by applying optical measurements to a measurement site in the sample. The measurement site includes two diffractive structures located one above the other in two different layers, respectively. The optical m |
| 7292341 |
Optical system operating with variable angle of incidence |
November 6, 2007 |
| An optical system for use in measurements in a sample comprising a light source (102) operable to produce an incident light beam propagating in a certain direction towards the sample (S) through an illumination channel (IC), a detector unit (104) for collecting light coming from the samp |
| 7292335 |
Optical measurements of patterned structures |
November 6, 2007 |
| A method and a system for optical measuring in a structure having a pattern in the form of spaced-apart parallel elongated regions of optical properties different from that of spaces between said regions. The system comprises a broadband illuminator (8) for generating incident radiation, |
| 7289234 |
Method and system for thin film characterization |
October 30, 2007 |
| A method and system are presented for optical measurements in multi-layer structures to determine the properties of at least some of the layers. The structure is patterned by removing layer materials within a measurement site of the structure from the top layer to the lowermost layer |
| 7289190 |
Monitoring apparatus and method particularly useful in photolithographically |
October 30, 2007 |
| Apparatus for processing substrates according to a predetermined photolithography process includes a loading station in which the substrates are loaded, a coating station in which the substrates are coated with a photoresist material, an exposing station in which the photoresist coat |
| 7255748 |
Apparatus for integrated monitoring of wafers and for process control in semiconductor manufactu |
August 14, 2007 |
| The present invention relates to an integrated apparatus for monitoring wafers and for process control in the semiconductor manufacturing process, by means of at least two different measurements that can be installed inside any part of the semiconductor production line, i.e., inside |
| 7253970 |
Reflective optical system |
August 7, 2007 |
| A lens arrangement is presented. The lens arrangement comprises a first element having a concave reflective surface and defining an optical axis of the lens arrangement, and a second substantially flat and at least partially reflective element spaced-apart from the first element along |
| 7251043 |
Method and system for measuring thin films |
July 31, 2007 |
| An optical system is presented for use in a measurement system (100) for use in measurements of thin films of a workpiece (W), the system comprising an optical assembly (14), comprising illuminator assembly, a detector assembly, and a light directing assembly (FA-OF) for directing il |
| 7245375 |
Optical measurement device and method |
July 17, 2007 |
| A system and method are presented for measurement on an article. The system comprises an illuminator for producing light of at least one predetermined wavelength range; an optical system; a displacement arrangement; and a control system. The optical system is configured to define at |
| 7195540 |
Method and system for endpoint detection |
March 27, 2007 |
| A method and system are presented for monitoring a process sequentially applied to a stream of substantially identical articles by a processing tool, so as to terminate the operation of the processing tool upon detecting an end-point signal corresponding to a predetermined value of a |
| 7187456 |
Method and apparatus for measurements of patterned structures |
March 6, 2007 |
| A method for measuring at least one desired parameter of a patterned structure having a plurality of features defined by a certain process of its manufacturing. The structure represents a grid having at least one cycle formed of at least two metal-containing regions spaced by substan |
| 7169015 |
Apparatus for optical inspection of wafers during processing |
January 30, 2007 |
| The present invention is aimed to provide a measurement system installable within a processing equipment and more specifically within the exit station of a polishing machine. The optical scheme of this system includes a spectrophotometric channel, an imaging channel and also means fo |
| 7123366 |
Method and apparatus for measurements of patterned structures |
October 17, 2006 |
| An apparatus and a method are disclosed for measuring at least one desired parameter of a patterned structure having a plurality of features defined by a certain process of its manufacturing, wherein the structure represents a grid having at least one cycle formed of at least two met |
| 7122817 |
Lateral shift measurement using an optical technique |
October 17, 2006 |
| Alignment of layers during manufacture of a multi-layer sample is controlled by applying optical measurements to a measurement site in the sample. The measurement site includes two diffractive structures located one above the other in two different layers, respectively. The optical m |
| 7030957 |
Monitoring apparatus and method particularly useful in photolithographically processing substrat |
April 18, 2006 |
| Apparatus for processing substrates according to a predetermined photolithography process includes a loading station in which the substrates are loaded, a coating station in which the substrates are coated with a photoresist material, an exposing station in which the photoresist coat |
| 7019850 |
Method and system for thin film characterization |
March 28, 2006 |
| A method and system are presented for optical measurements in multi-layer structures to determine the properties of at least some of the layers. The structure is patterned by removing layer materials within a measurement site of the structure from the top layer to the lowermost layer |
| 6974962 |
Lateral shift measurement using an optical technique |
December 13, 2005 |
| The method for controlling layers alignment in a multi-layer sample (10), such a semiconductors wafer based on detecting a diffraction efficiency of radiation diffracted from the patterned structures (12, 14) located one above the other in two different layers of the sample. |
| 6964276 |
Wafer monitoring system |
November 15, 2005 |
| A wafer monitoring system including a gripper operative to fixedly hold a wafer, a bottom buffering unit comprising at least one supporting element adapted to support a wafer, a top buffering unit comprising at least two supporting elements adapted to support a wafer, a first actuator op |
| 6940609 |
Method and system for measuring the topography of a sample |
September 6, 2005 |
| An imaging method and system are presented for detecting the topography of a sample surface. Illuminating light is directed to the sample by sequentially passing the illuminating light through a grating and an objective lens arrangement The grating has a pattern formed by spaced-apar |
| 6885446 |
Method and system for monitoring a process of material removal from the surface of a patterned s |
April 26, 2005 |
| A method and system are presented for use in controlling a process of material removal from the surface of a patterned structure, by measuring at least one of residue, erosion, dishing and corrosion effects in the structure induced by this process. The structure is imaged utilizing phase |
| 6860790 |
Buffer system for a wafer handling system |
March 1, 2005 |
| An apparatus is provided for supporting semiconductor wafer in a wafer processing system. The apparatus comprises at least two wafer support assemblies, defining respectively at least two wafer support levels and being mounted between opposing support beams; one or more supporting bases |
| 6842220 |
Monitoring apparatus and method particularly useful in photolithographically processing substrat |
January 11, 2005 |
| A method for in process monitoring of the parameters of a substrate undergoing a processing within a photolithography tools arrangement which includes substrate loading and unloading stations, and substrate coating, exposure and developing stations. The method includes the step of su |
| 6833048 |
Apparatus for in-cassette monitoring of semiconductor wafers |
December 21, 2004 |
| A processing apparatus is presented for applying to a substantially flat workpiece contained in a cassette, and a processing tool coupled to the housing. The processing tool is displaceable along three mutually perpendicular axes relative to the cassette for inserting the tool into t |
| 6815947 |
Method and system for thickness measurements of thin conductive layers |
November 9, 2004 |
| A method and system are presented for measuring in an electrically conductive film of a specific sample including data indicative of a free space response of an RF sensing coil unit to AC voltage applied to the RF sensing coil. The sensing coil is located proximate to the sample at a |
| 6806971 |
Method and apparatus for process control in semiconductor manufacture |
October 19, 2004 |
| An optical system is presented for use in a measurement system for measuring in patterned structures, which is particularly useful controlling processing of the structure progressing on a production line. The system comprises an illuminator unit producing illuminating light to be dir |
| 6801326 |
Method and apparatus for monitoring a chemical mechanical planarization process applied to metal |
October 5, 2004 |
| A method is presented for optical control of the quality of a process of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) performed by a polishing tool applied to an article having a patterned area. The article contains a plurality of stacks each formed by a plurality of different layers, the |
| 6801315 |
Method and system for overlay measurement |
October 5, 2004 |
| An optical measurement method and system are presented for imaging two target structures in two parallel layers, respectively, of a sample, to enable determination of a registration between the two target structures along two mutually perpendicular axes of the layer. The sample is il |
| 6791686 |
Apparatus for integrated monitoring of wafers and for process control in the semiconductor manuf |
September 14, 2004 |
| An integrated apparatus for optically monitoring semiconductor workpieces includes a supporting assembly for supporting the workpiece, and an optical monitoring unit positioned opposite the surface of the workpiece and separated therefrom by an optical window. The optical monitoring unit |
| 6764379 |
Method and system for endpoint detection |
July 20, 2004 |
| A method and system are presented for monitoring a process sequentially applied to a stream of substantially identical articles by a processing tool, so as to terminate the operation of the processing tool upon detecting an end-point signal corresponding to a predetermined value of a |
| 6752689 |
Apparatus for optical inspection of wafers during polishing |
June 22, 2004 |
| An optical system is disclosed for the inspection of wafers during polishing which also includes a measurement system for measuring the thickness of the wafers top layer. The optical system views the wafer through a window and includes a gripping system, which places the wafer in a p |
| 6733619 |
Apparatus for integrated monitoring of wafers and for process control in semiconductor manufactu |
May 11, 2004 |
| The present invention relates to an integrated apparatus for monitoring wafers and for process control in the semiconductor manufacturing process, by means of at least two different measurements that can be installed inside any part of the semiconductor production line, i.e., inside the |
| 6720568 |
Method and system for optical inspection of a structure formed with a surface relief |
April 13, 2004 |
| A method and system are presented for inspecting a structure containing a pattern in the form of a surface relief fabricated by a pattern-creating tool applied to the structure. Reference data is provided being indicative of photometric intensities of light components of different wavele |
| 6704920 |
Process control for micro-lithography |
March 9, 2004 |
| A method is presented for controlling a process to be applied to a patterned structure in a production run. Reference data is provided being representative of diffraction signatures corresponding to a group of different fields in a structure similar to the patterned structure in the |
| 6657736 |
Method and system for measuring patterned structures |
December 2, 2003 |
| A method and system are presented for determing a line profile in a patterned structure, aimed at controlling a process of manufacture of the structure. The patterned structure comprises a plurality of different layers, the pattern in the structure being formed by patterned regions and |
| 6654108 |
Test structure for metal CMP process control |
November 25, 2003 |
| A test structure is presented to be formed on a patterned structure and to be used for controlling a CMP process applied to the patterned structure, which has a pattern area formed by spaced-apart metal-containing regions representative of real features of the patterned structure. The te |
| 6650424 |
Method and system for measuring in patterned structures |
November 18, 2003 |
| A measurement method and system are presented for measuring parameters of a patterned structure. Scatterometry and SEM measurements are applied to the structure, measured data indicative of, respectively, the structure parameters and lateral pattern dimensions of the structure are genera |
| 6643017 |
Method and system for controlling the photolithography process |
November 4, 2003 |
| A method and measuring tool are presented for automatic control of photoresist-based processing of a workpiece progressing through a processing tool arrangement. Spectrophotometric measurements are applied to the workpiece prior to being processed, spectral characteristics of the wor |
