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:
Apr. 02, 1996
Filed:
Sep. 22, 1993
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for predicting the endpoint time of a semiconductor process for a layer of a wafer (14). The endpoint time is the time at which a predetermined thickness of the layer occurs. A layer thickness, calculated for a first sample time, is received. It is then determined whether or not the layer thickness lies within a predetermined range. If the layer thickness does lie within the predetermined range, it is used to update a forecasted process rate. The forecasted process rate is used to predict the endpoint time. The endpoint time is used to control the semiconductor process so that the layer of wafer (14) is formed having the predetermined thickness.