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. 06, 1999
Filed:
May. 29, 1997
James G Goodberlet, Cambridge, MA (US);
Henry I Smith, Sudbury, MA (US);
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
A scintillating fiducial pattern, and methods of fabricating and using same, on a substrate or a resist/substrate composite, where the scintillating fiducial pattern is used in a spatial referencing scheme. The invention includes the use of a scintillating fiducial pattern as alignment or reference marks on a resist/substrate composite, into which a pattern or feature is to be defined. The invention includes the use of a scintillating fiducial in a mask alignment scheme. The invention includes the use of a scintillating fiducial grid or grating in conjunction with an energy beam locating method, or spatial-phase-locked electron-beam lithography. Spatial referencing to the scintillating fiducial grid, or grating, may be implemented with a delay-locked loop, which locks the phase of a signal from the scintillating grid, or grating, to the phase of a known signal. The invention includes the use of a scintillating fiducial grating, or grid, or the like, in conjunction with energy beam locating, to pattern a distortion-free grating or grid. The invention includes the use of an optical or combined photon/electron detection scheme to detect the scintillating fiducial pattern or a signal from the scintillating fiducial pattern.