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:
Nov. 17, 1998
Filed:
Mar. 11, 1997
Applicant:
Inventors:
Arun A Aiyer, Fremont, CA (US);
Paul Derek Coon, Redwood City, CA (US);
Henry K Chau, San Francisco, CA (US);
Assignee:
Nikon Corporation, , JP;
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
356382 ; 438 16 ; 438692 ; 216 84 ; 356357 ;
Abstract
A chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) optical process monitor apparatus allows in situ measurement of the thickness of a thin film being polished. As the incidence angle of the incident light on the wafer being polished is changed, the reflected intensity of the light from the thin film on the wafer undergoes a variation in local maxima and minima. The angle at which the light intensity is a maximum or minimum determined by the thin film interference equation, thus providing a measurement of the thin film thickness and/or the change in the thin film thickness.