Fraunhofer-gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.v.

Other

Infineon Technologies Ag

Semiconductor 300 Gmbh & Co. Kg

Hungarian Academy of Sciences Research Institute for Technical Physics and Materials Science

Lothar Pfitzner

Claus Schneider

Norbert Benesch

Ralph Trunk

Heiner Ryssel

Olaf Storbeck

Georg Roeder

Reinhold Waller

Volker Tegeder

Poitr Strzyzewski

Peter Hennig

Piotr Strzyzewski

János Makai

Heinz Schmid

Thomas Tschaftary

István Endre Lukács

Ferenc Riesz

J&uuml;rgen Ziegler

Béla Szentpali

Richard Oechsner

Apparatus and process for fast, quantitative, non-contact topographic investigation of samples. Apparatus includes a light source, and a collimating concave mirror structured and arranged to produce a parallel beam and to direct the parallel beam to a sample to be investigated. A structured mask is located between the light source and the concave mirror, and an image sensor structured and arranged to receive a beam reflected from the sample and the concave mirror. Relative positions of the mask and the sensor to other elements of the apparatus are chosen to provide an essentially sharp image of the mask on the sensor. The instant abstract is neither intended to define the invention disclosed in this specification nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

Apparatus and measurement procedure for the fast, quantitative, non-contact topographic investigation of semiconductor wafers and other mirror like surfaces

A method for monitoring fabrication processes of finely structured surfaces in a semiconductor fabrication includes the steps of providing reference signatures of finely structured surfaces, measuring at least one signature of a test specimen surface, comparing the measured signature with the reference signatures, and classifying the test specimen surface by using the comparison results, wherein the measurement of the reference signatures is carried out by measuring the local distribution and/or intensity distribution of diffraction images on production prototypes having a specified quality. The classification is preferably carried out here with a neural network having a learning capability and/or a fuzzy logic. Furthermore, a device for carrying out the method is provided.

Method and device for optically monitoring fabrication processes of finely structured surfaces in a semiconductor production

A particle measurement configuration measures the particle concentration in a liquid or gaseous medium by way of a particle measuring instrument. In order to avoid erroneous measurements or damage to the particle measuring instrument, a measuring cell is provided which measures temperature or pressure or pH of the medium. A system controller shuts off a valve if threshold values are exceeded and it prevents the particle measuring instrument from being operated outside a predefined specification.

Particle measurement configuration and semiconductor wafer processing device with such a configuration

A configuration for measuring the concentration of contaminating particles at high time resolution in the mini environments of loading and unloading chambers of processing appliances in semiconductor fabrication includes a probe, a movement unit for the probe, a particle detector, vacuum pump and a control unit. Reaching critical layer thicknesses of disk carriers or boats in ovens, and maladjustments of handling systems for wafers, masks, flat panel displays and other disc-like objects can be detected in terms of the cause and quantified immediately. The movement unit moves the probe to a desired position in the loading and unloading chamber as a reaction to the positioning of the handling system. A method of operating the configuration is also provided.

Configuration for determining a concentration of contaminating particles in a loading and unloading chamber of an appliance for processing at least one disk-like object

The apparatus allows monitoring layer depositions in a process chamber. The apparatus has a light source, a sensor element, and at least one light detector. The sensor element is suitably configured in order to influence the intensity of the light beam measured by the detector by the thickness of the layer growing on the sensor element. The novel monitoring method for measuring the transmitted light intensity utilizes the apparatus. The sensor element has a continuous opening through which the intensity of the light is observed as a function of the opening grown over by the thickness of the growing layer.

Apparatus for monitoring intentional or unavoidable layer depositions and method

An apparatus for measuring angle-dependent diffraction effects includes a coherent radiation source, a device for deflecting the coherent radiation in different directions, a spherical or aspherical mirror or mirror segments configured to correspond to a spherical or aspherical mirror, and a detector unit for measuring the intensity of the radiation diffracted at a specimen. The radiation deflected in different directions is reflected by the mirror configuration in such a way that the coherent beam is deflected onto the specimen with different angles of incidence in a temporally successively sequential manner. For this purpose, the angle of incidence of the measuring beam is altered continuously or in small steps. The intensities of the direct reflection (zero-order diffraction) and also of the higher orders of diffraction that may occur are measured. This evaluation allows conclusions to be drawn regarding the form and material of the periodic structures examined.

Apparatus for rapidly measuring angle-dependent diffraction effects on finely patterned surfaces

Method for monitoring a quality of a plurality of particularly different technical product types which are produced in a quasi-parallel manufacturing process, the manufacturing method including several sequentially arranged manufacturing stations, and whereby a course of a state variable for at least one of the manufacturing stations is determined point-by-point and displayed, the method including determining as a first type number a number of product types to be monitored, determining technical product parameter which is affected in the at least one manufacturing station, allocating a measuring arrangement to the manufacturing station for measuring the technical product parameter for at least one of the monitored product types, taking a random sample of a product type whose physical state is modified in the manufacturing station, the random sample being taken the first type number of product types, determining measured values for the determined technical product parameter of the random sample, calculating an individual average value from the measured values, storing the individual average value in a multi-dimensional average value attributed to the first type number, and repeating the taking through the storing for at least one further product type to supplement at least one further measured average value to the multi-dimensional average value.

Quality surveillance of a production process

Process and device for converting a liquid stream flow into a gas stream

Growing community of inventors

Erlangen, Germany

Lothar Pfitzner