The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Jun. 06, 2023

Filed:

Mar. 30, 2021
Applicant:

Onto Innovation Inc., Wilmington, MA (US);

Inventors:

George Andrew Antonelli, Portland, OR (US);

Manjusha S. Mehendale, Morristown, NJ (US);

Robin Mair, West Chicago, IL (US);

Nicholas James Keller, La Jolla, CA (US);

Assignee:

Onto Innovation Inc., Wilmington, MA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 21/17 (2006.01); G01B 11/06 (2006.01); G01B 11/22 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 21/1702 (2013.01); G01B 11/06 (2013.01); G01B 11/22 (2013.01); G01N 2021/1706 (2013.01);
Abstract

A non-destructive opto-acoustic metrology device detects the presence and location of non-uniformities in a film stack that includes a large number, e.g., 50 or more, transparent layers. A transducer layer at the bottom of the film stack produces an acoustic wave in response to an excitation beam. A probe beam is reflected from the layer interfaces of the film stack and the acoustic wave to produce an interference signal that encodes data in a time domain from destructive and constructive interference as the acoustic wave propagates upward in the film stack. The data may be analyzed across the time domain to determine the presence and location of one or more non-uniformities in the film stack. An acoustic metrology target may be produced with a transducer layer configured to generate an acoustic wave with a desired acoustic profile based on characteristics of the film stack.


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