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.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 12, 1995
Filed:
Dec. 22, 1993
John A Penkethman, Gilroy, CA (US);
Electroglas, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Light is supplied via a optical fiber to a probe head. The light exiting the optical fiber is focused to a point by a lens. Reflected light from an object at or near the focal point is reflected back through the lens and then focused to the source optical fiber or a second optical fiber located next the source optical fiber. The return signal is then detected in a detector module. By noting the characteristics of the response curve as the object is moved back and forth relative to the probe head, the position of the object can be determined. By performing this procedure over several points, a detailed topography map can be created. Additionally, the probe head can be scanned at a constant distance from the surface to produce an image of the surface as the response signal varies according to the surface's reflectivity. The microprobe can be used, for example, to find the position of probe tips on a wafer prober, to determine the topography of the surface of the wafer, and to find the position of the wafer edge.