The Boc Group, Inc.

Henry R Berger

Gretchen Maerker Adema

Frederick Tapp

The present invention provides a method of performing an instantaneous moisture concentration measurement of a gas having a rapidly changing moisture concentration. This method has direct application to a method of determining the drydown characteristics of an environment in which a series of instantaneous moisture concentration measurements are made during the drying of the environment. In accordance with the present invention, a standard gas is generated having a known moisture concentration estimated to be essentially equal to the instantaneous moisture concentration of the gaseous fluid (which could be a purge gas used in drying an environment) at a selected instant of its rapidly changing moisture concentration. The standard gas is then sampled. At the selected instant, the gaseous fluid is sampled and its instantaneous moisture concentration is compared with the known moisture content of the standard gas. If essentially no difference exists, the known moisture will be essentially equal to the instantaneous moisture concentration. If a difference exits, the standard gas can be successively reformed with the known moisture concentration adjusted to eliminate the difference and thus provide an indirect measurement of the moisture concentration within the gas.

Method of performing an instantaneous moisture concentration measurement

A simple method for forming a metallization for an integrated circuit comprises depositing on a silicon substrate a first layer of refractory metal and nitrogen solid mixture and depositing thereon a second layer of refractory metal. The resulting structure is heated to convert the first layer to refractory metal nitride and the second layer to refractory metal silicide by flow of silicon from the substrate. By appropriate masking of the substrate, formation of silicide in the second layer can be blocked, thus permitting formation of self-aligned metallization by selective etching.

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Durham, NC, United States of America

Henry R Berger