| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| 6901678 |
Measuring head |
June 7, 2005 |
| A measuring head is provided with a retracting device for a sensing pin, comprising an electric motor-driven feed screw, a nut shifted by the feed screw and an inclined face formed on the nut; a seesaw member to which the sensing pin is fitted is swung by the linear motion of the incline |
| 6900816 |
Image distributing and processing apparatus |
May 31, 2005 |
| An image distributing and processing apparatus is provided with a distributor which distributes image data outputted from an input data storing device into a plurality of image processing/storing devices in accordance with parameters to be used for the image processing operation, and |
| 6886394 |
Roughness measuring method and apparatus |
May 3, 2005 |
| In the roughness measuring apparatus, a parameter to be evaluated and its maximum value are set by using a keyboard. If there is an evaluated area with a roughness over the maximum value among the roughness values which have been computed, a roughness is computed by using only measuremen |
| 6867424 |
Wafer defect inspection machine having a dual illumination system |
March 15, 2005 |
| A low-cost defect inspection machine for semiconductor wafers that can detect various defects has been disclosed and comprises an optical system that projects a pattern image, an image sensor and a processing circuit that processes the image signal and detects defect portions, wherein th |
| 6863590 |
Wafer planarization apparatus |
March 8, 2005 |
| The wafer planarization apparatus comprises a processing part which holds a wafer through a protective sheet adhering to the obverse of the wafer and processes the reverse of the wafer, an inspecting device which inspects the wafer having been processed by the processing part, a frame ad |
| 6857939 |
Dicing machine with interlock |
February 22, 2005 |
| A dicing machine including a flange cover which covers the blade and is divided into two such that a first cover is openable. An interlock device is provided so that a blade attaching and detaching device cannot be attached when the first cover is at the closing position, the first cover |
| 6840845 |
Wafer polishing apparatus |
January 11, 2005 |
| The wafer polishing apparatus enables the control of proper polishing pressure, so that the quality of wafers can be maintained high. A wafer holding head is composed of a carrier for pressing the wafer against a polishing pad, a retainer ring at the circumference of the carrier, and a |
| 6805616 |
Wafer planarization apparatus and planarization method thereof |
October 19, 2004 |
| Wafers are prevented from getting damaged on delivery thereof from a sucking and carrying device to a table. A wafer before planarization sucked and held by a sucking board is positioned above a table. Next, wafer is vacuum-attracted by the table, and the table is moved upward by tha |
| 6752701 |
Planarization apparatus with grinding and etching devices and holding device for moving workpiec |
June 22, 2004 |
| In the planarization apparatus, an etching stage is installed in a body where a rough grinding stage and a finishing grinding stage are disposed, and the rough grinding, finishing grinding, and etching of a wafer are performed in the same planarization apparatus. A chuck for holding the |
| 6752688 |
Cutting solution supplying and controlling apparatus for dicing machine |
June 22, 2004 |
| In the cutting solution supplying and controlling apparatus for a dicing machine, a flow rate adjusting device is provided in addition to a regulator as the pressure adjusting device. The flow rate adjusting device has a flow rate controller, which controls a proportional solenoid valve |
| 6743076 |
Dicing machine |
June 1, 2004 |
| The flange cover covering the blade is divided into two. The second cover is turnably connected to the first cover through a shaft parallel with the spindle of the blade, and the second cover is opened and closed in connection with vertical movement of the spindle. When the spindle is |
| 6742273 |
Workpiece measuring apparatus |
June 1, 2004 |
| A workpiece measuring apparatus for measuring at least one of a size and a shape of a workpiece, machined by a turning or a grinding process system, includes a machine base, a column mounted on the machine base and having a mounting mechanism on at least one of the sides thereof, a measu |
| 6734083 |
Dicing method and dicing apparatus for dicing plate-like workpiece |
May 11, 2004 |
| Provision is made of a dicing apparatus, for dicing a plate-like workpiece, comprising a disk-like blade which rotates to form a groove in one surface of the workpiece; a water discharging portion which discharges water toward a bottom of the groove of the one surface of the workpiece to |
| 6733377 |
Dicing machine |
May 11, 2004 |
| The dicing machine has a shielding plate movably arranged between a processing part and a microscope so as to check mist and spray produced from the processing part. The shielding plate can be moved back and forth between a shielding position and a retreated position, so that the shi |
| 6732612 |
Blade exchanging device and blade exchanging method therefor |
May 11, 2004 |
| With a blade exchanging device, a cylindrical body is engaged with a nut that is fastened to a spindle, and at the same time the nut is held by fitting nails of a chuck member with grooves that are formed on the nut. Next, a torque wrench is inserted through the cylindrical body, and a |
| 6729215 |
Dicing machine |
May 4, 2004 |
| In the dicing machine, a parallel adjustment process between a cut-line of a blade and cut-line images displayed on a monitor can be easily performed. In the dicing machine, at least one of the first and second cut-line images displayed on the monitor is electronically moved by an im |
| 6702658 |
Wafer polishing apparatus utilizing an Oldham's coupling mechanism for the wafer carrier |
March 9, 2004 |
| A rotation force of a drive shaft is transmitted from a drive plate to an intermediate plate through a first pin, and a rotation force of the intermediate plate is transmitted to a carrier through a second pin. The rotation force of the drive shaft is transmitted to the carrier through a |
| 6696697 |
Roughness measuring method and apparatus, using a filter having a plurality of cutoff values |
February 24, 2004 |
| The roughness measuring method and roughness measuring apparatus enable accurate measurement of the surface roughness of a work with no cutoff values specified. An auxiliary storage device storing therein a plurality of cutoff values is included in a data processing apparatus of the |
| 6690991 |
Machine control gage system performing roundness measuring function |
February 10, 2004 |
| A machine control gage system has a control unit, which analyzes roundness of a workpiece. The control unit controls a grinding machine controller in such a manner as to machine the workpiece to a desired size according to data measured by a measuring head. The control unit analyzes roun |
| 6675632 |
Inside diameter measuring method and apparatus |
January 13, 2004 |
| The inside diameter measuring method and apparatus are capable of making accurate measurement. In the inside diameter measuring method of measuring an inside diameter of a cylindrical work by supplying compressed air from one end of the work and by detecting a back pressure of the compre |
| 6656026 |
Wafer polishing apparatus |
December 2, 2003 |
| In the wafer polishing apparatus for pressing a wafer against a polishing pad with an air bag, which is provided to a carrier, pressing area regulating members are attached to the bottom face of the carrier, whereby areas for pressing the wafer with the air bag are regulated. The pressin |
| 6650769 |
Review station and appearance inspection device for checking semiconductor wafers |
November 18, 2003 |
| A review station comprising a wafer chuck capable of turning by at least 270 degrees, and an X-Y stage that moves over a distance one-half the diameter of a semiconductor wafer. Each of four regions obtained by dividing the surface of the semiconductor wafer 1 into four areas are suc |
| 6648739 |
Wafer polishing apparatus |
November 18, 2003 |
| A step part is formed on a face of a retainer ring that contacts with a polishing pad so that a wavily deformed part of the polishing pad enters the step part. The step part is formed like a ring at the inside of the face which actually contacts with the polishing pad. Moreover, a height |
| 6643394 |
Visual inspection apparatus and method |
November 4, 2003 |
| A plurality of chips arranged in the same scanning row of a wafer is divided into groups, which include a predetermined number of chips. The images of the chips in each group are compared with each other in the double detection. If one group includes the first the second and the third |
| 6623344 |
Wafer polishing apparatus |
September 23, 2003 |
| A dresser 44 of a wafer polishing apparatus according to this invention includes a grinding wheel head 444 that is idly supported in such a manner as to be capable of moving up and down relative to a dresser main body 441, and an air bag 449 interposed between the dresser main body and t |
| 6606401 |
Inspection of edge periods of two-dimensional periodic structures |
August 12, 2003 |
| A method for comparing periodic structures, such as wafer dies, by obtaining signals from the images of two swaths of the wafer dies. The signals for each wafer die are then compared to at least the signals from the two nearest neighbor dies. Preferably, these two neighbor dies are l |
| 6583032 |
Method for manufacturing semiconductor chips |
June 24, 2003 |
| In a process of manufacturing semiconductor chips, first, the reverse of a wafer, on the obverse of which many chips are formed, is ground so as to shape the wafer with a predetermined thickness. Then, the reverse of the wafer is polished or etched so that the broken layer which is forme |
| 6580502 |
Appearance inspection method and apparatus |
June 17, 2003 |
| An appearance inspection method, and an-apparatus therefor, capable of acquiring high quality in-focus images throughout the entire zone of an inspection object, by acquiring simultaneously two images on different focal planes by.using two TDI cameras (23, 24) having a sensitivity in a |
| 6572438 |
Structure of polishing head of polishing apparatus |
June 3, 2003 |
| A polishing head of a polishing apparatus of this invention has a structure in which an air blast port is formed in a lower surface of a carrier 20, and an upper outer peripheral portion 24 of the carrier is so formed as to protrude in a diametric direction, and is placed on a retainer r |
| 6569282 |
Etching apparatus |
May 27, 2003 |
| A wafer is supplied from a wafer cassette to an etching part by a wafer transport robot so as to be etched. After the etching process, a wafer frame is supplied from a wafer frame supply part to a mount part. The mount part to which the wafer frame is supplied moves to the upper part of |
| 6547650 |
Polishing apparatus |
April 15, 2003 |
| In a wafer polishing apparatus 1 according to this invention, waiting units 43 having upper-lower two-stage wafer placement tables each for temporarily keeping a wafer from a load/unload unit 3 to a polishing head 42 or vice versa are provided to a polishing unit 4, and the upper/lower |
| 6519357 |
Appearance inspection machine and method for concurrently performing defect detection and classi |
February 11, 2003 |
| Disclosed is an appearance inspection machine comprising an image acquisition unit, a defect information production unit, and an automatic defect classification unit. The defect information production unit detects a defect by comparing two image data and produces defect information. The |
| 6517420 |
Wafer surface machining apparatus |
February 11, 2003 |
| A surface machining apparatus comprises a suction transfer device that is capable of transferring a ground thin wafer held thereon without damaging it. After the wafer is ground at two different grinding stages, the suction transfer device transfers the wafer from a chuck table to a |
| 6512843 |
Pattern comparison method and appearance inspection machine for performance comparison based on |
January 28, 2003 |
| In a pattern comparison system based on double detection, images of areas in a plurality of identical patterns arrayed in rows and columns on an inspected object are each compared with images of two or more nearby areas. Defects are detected based on the results of comparison. The pa |
| 6511363 |
Polishing end point detecting device for wafer polishing apparatus |
January 28, 2003 |
| White light from a light source is applied onto a wafer through an observation window which is formed on a polishing pad, and a spectrometric analysis is performed to the light which has been reflected on the wafer, whereby a polishing end point of the wafer is detected. In this case, an |
| 6504574 |
Image sensor with scan direction signal charge transfer parts |
January 7, 2003 |
| A Time Delay Integration technique is applied to an image sensor of this invention. A sensor part is constructed in such a way that diagonally-arranged photo-sensors are arranged periodically lengthwise and widthwise. The signal charge read from the photo-sensors of each line is tran |
| 6494768 |
Wafer polishing apparatus |
December 17, 2002 |
| A wafer polishing apparatus according to this invention has a polishing unit that includes three platens and two polishing heads. Injection ports are disposed between the platens. The two polishing heads can linearly move between the platens. In a two-step polishing process, while the |
| 6485358 |
Wafer polishing device |
November 26, 2002 |
| In the wafer polishing device, a retainer ring can be attached and detached with ease. Under a retainer ring attaching part disposed on a head body, a retainer ring is attached with a snap ring. The snap ring is divided into two. An upper projection part and a lower projection part are f |
| 6456318 |
Defect inspection apparatus and method by comparing two pairs of areas adjacent to one another |
September 24, 2002 |
| A Time Delayed Integrator (TDI) sensor obtains images of a plurality of areas with the same pattern of an object of inspection such as a semiconductor wafer, and the obtained images are stored in an image storage part. The plurality of areas are designated in airs, and an image compa |
| 6431964 |
Planarization apparatus and method |
August 13, 2002 |
| A polishing stage is mounted on a body provided with a rough grinding stage and a fine grinding stage so that a wafer can be roughly ground, finely ground and polished in one planarization apparatus. The planarization apparatus also has a cleaning stage for cleaning a polishing pad of th |
| 6431961 |
Apparatus and method for chamfering wafer |
August 13, 2002 |
| A grindstone and a wafer are rotated at high speeds in the same direction. The rotating wafer is slowly moved toward the rotating grindstone to thereby gradually chamfer the periphery of the wafer. |
| 6431949 |
Planarization apparatus |
August 13, 2002 |
| A planarization apparatus has a stocker in which a dressing board is stored. The dressing board is picked up from the stocker and mounted on a chuck table by a transport robot. Then, dressing of a grinding wheel or a polishing pad is performed with the dressing board. Thereafter, the use |
| 6426275 |
Method for manufacturing semiconductor chips using protecting pricing and separating sheets |
July 30, 2002 |
| The reverse of a wafer is processed after adhering a protecting sheet and a reinforcing plate to the obverse of a wafer. The wafer is mounted on a frame for dicing via a dicing sheet and diced. Then, the protecting sheet is separated from the wafer after irradiating the wafer with ultrav |
| 6422227 |
Dicing apparatus, kerf inspecting method and kerf inspecting system |
July 23, 2002 |
| In a dicing apparatus that comprises a first blade and a second blade, the first blade cuts a wafer along a street along which the first blade has not previously cut the wafer, and the second blade cuts the wafer along a street along which the first blade has not cut the wafer, and then |
| 6402589 |
Wafer grinder and method of detecting grinding amount |
June 11, 2002 |
| The present invention provides a wafer polishing apparatus capable of controlling the polishing quantity accurately. The wafer polishing apparatus comprises a rotatable polishing stool with a polishing cloth, a carrier for bringing a wafer into contact with the polishing cloth under a |
| 6366102 |
Wafer probing machine |
April 2, 2002 |
| An inspection tray on which an inspection wafer is placed is detachably mounted on a special tray on which a cleaning wafer is placed. The special tray can be horizontally drawn out from a body of a wafer probing machine. Thus, it is possible to easily confirm types of cleaning wafer and |
| 6354914 |
Wafer polishing apparatus |
March 12, 2002 |
| Sensors detect a stock removal of a wafer during polishing, and a CPU calculates the stock removal in accordance with information from the sensors. The CPU compares the actual stock removal detected by the sensors and a model stock removal stored in RAM, and determines timings for dr |
| 6354912 |
Workpiece cutting method for use with dicing machine |
March 12, 2002 |
| Two blades are arranged oppositely at a predetermined interval along the Y-axis. The two blades cut a wafer along two cutting lines at the same time while the two blades are moving along the X-axis. After the wafer is cut along these two cutting lines, the two blades are moved along the |
| 6346037 |
Wafer polishing machine |
February 12, 2002 |
| A CMP machine of the invention includes first and second polishing bases 14 and 15, first and second wafer holding heads 31 and 32, a wafer loading unit 41, a wafer unloading unit 42, first and second head rotating mechanism rotating the first and second wafer holding heads so as to |
| 6319106 |
Wafer polishing apparatus |
November 20, 2001 |
| The present invention is a wafer polishing apparatus with a device that detects the polishing end according to a change in rotation resistance of a wafer during polishing. The wafer polishing apparatus comprises a head body and a carrier which are connected with each other by a connectin |
