Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.

William Gray Callahan

Joseph C Olson

Morgan Evans

Gregg Alexander Norris

Shengwu Chang

Jonathan Gerald England

George Gammel

Damian Brennan

Norman E Hussey

Gary L Viviani

Douglas Thomas Fielder

Nick A Parisi

An ion beam current uniformity monitor, ion implanter and related method are disclosed. In one embodiment, the ion beam current uniformity monitor includes an ion beam current measurer including a plurality of measuring devices for measuring a current of an ion beam at a plurality of locations; and a controller for maintaining ion beam current uniformity based on the ion beam current measurements by the ion beam current measurer.

Ion beam current uniformity monitor, ion implanter and related method

A technique for uniformity tuning in an ion implanter system is disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the technique may be realized as a method for ion beam uniformity tuning. The method may comprise generating an ion beam in an ion implanter system. The method may also comprise tuning one or more beam-line elements in the ion implanter system to reduce changes in a beam spot of the ion beam when the ion beam is scanned along a beam path. The method may further comprise adjusting a velocity profile for scanning the ion beam along the beam path such that the ion beam produces a substantially uniform ion beam profile along the beam path.

Technique for uniformity tuning in an ion implanter system

A method and apparatus for controlling complex systems includes hierarchically coupled subsystems representing operative functions of the system. The hierarchically coupled subsystems are coupled to collect command data from a user and signal data from the system. Each subsystem may include one or more state machines and one or more digital signal processing and conditioning unit (DSPCU) objects. The DSCPU objects accept process commands and convert control system signals into states for further processing by the state machines. Associated with the DSPCUs of each subsystem is a data flow diagram for dictating an order of flow of commands and signals at the DSPCUs. A method of controlling the system represented by the hierarchically coupled subsystems schedules the execution of the subsystems according to an execution protocol. According to the execution protocol, for each cycle of execution of the system, the hierarchically coupled subsystems are first analyzed in ascending order of the hierarchy, with DSPCU objects being analyzed in data flow order before state machine objects, and then in descending order of the hierarchy, with state machine objects being analyzed before DSPCU objects. During the ascending execution of the hierarchy, signal data received from only those objects that are relatively lower in the hierarchy are used to update the state of any given object. During the descending execution of the hierarchy, command data received from only those objects that are relatively higher in the hierarchy are considered when updating the state of any given object.

Method and apparatus for controlling a system using hierarchical state machines

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Rockport, MA, United States of America

William Gray Callahan