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:
Jun. 06, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 17, 1997
Applicant:
Inventors:
Leping Li, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
Steven George Barbee, Dover Plains, NY (US);
Arnold Halperin, Cortlandt Manor, NY (US);
Tony Frederick Heinz, Chappaqua, NY (US);
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L / ; H01L / ; H01L / ; G01B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
324230 ; 216 86 ; 32420716 ; 324226 ; 324234 ; 324655 ; 427 10 ; 438 13 ; 438 17 ;
Abstract
The change in thickness of a film on an underlying body such as a semiconductor substrate is monitored in situ by inducing a current in the film, and as the thickness of the film changes (either increase or decrease), the changes in the current are detected. With a conductive film, eddy currents are induced in the film by a generating an alternating electromagnetic field with a sensor which includes a capacitor and an inductor.