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:
Oct. 29, 2024

Filed:

Mar. 12, 2021
Applicant:

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;

Inventors:

I-Che Lee, Hsinchu, TW;

Huai-Ying Huang, Jhonghe, TW;

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 21/66 (2006.01); G01Q 60/40 (2010.01); G06T 7/00 (2017.01); H01L 21/67 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 22/12 (2013.01); G01Q 60/40 (2013.01); G06T 7/0004 (2013.01); H01L 21/67253 (2013.01); H01L 22/14 (2013.01); G06T 2207/10061 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30148 (2013.01);
Abstract

Costs may be avoided and yields improved by applying scanning probe microscopy to substrates in the midst of an integrated circuit fabrication process sequence. Scanning probe microscopy may be used to provide conductance data. Conductance data may relate to device characteristics that are normally not available until the conclusion of device manufacturing. The substrates may be selectively treated to ameliorate a condition revealed by the data. Some substrates may be selectively discarded based on the data to avoid the expense of further processing. A process maintenance operation may be selectively carried out based on the data.


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