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:
Oct. 05, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 24, 1997
Applicant:
Inventor:
Chin-Kai Liu, Tai-chung, TW;
Assignee:
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Hsin-Chu, TW;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N / ; G01N / ; G01R / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
324551 ; 324450 ; 324765 ; 324 711 ;
Abstract
The present invention discloses a novel method and apparatus for de-etching pin-holes in a passivation layer that is deposited over a metal conductor layer on the surface of a semiconductor wafer by utilizing a substantially clear, electrically conductive film as a top electrode immersed in an electrolyte for observing under an optical microscope bubbles generated from a pin-hole on the wafer surface which functions as a bottom electrode when a DC current is flowing through the top electrode, the electrolyte and the bottom electrode such that gases in the form of bubbles are generated at the pin-hole site where metal is exposed to the electrolyte.