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:
Dec. 07, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 06, 1997
Yasuhiro Ido, Tokyo, JP;
Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A method for cleaning probes of a probe card used for testing semiconductor wafers and an apparatus for carrying out the cleaning method. Microwave energy is supplied to and a magnetic field is impressed on a reaction gas to generate a plasma; a magnetic field source generates a magnetic field, funneling and directing the plasma toward a zone opposite a probe card; a baffle funnels the plasma toward a zone where probes of the probe card are present; and a voltage source impresses controlled DC voltages onto the probes so that the energy of ions incident on the probes exceeds a threshold energy for sputtering aluminum but not a threshold energy for sputtering tungsten.