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:
Jan. 14, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 04, 1998
Leping Li, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
James A. Gilhooly, Saint Albans, VT (US);
Clifford O. Morgan, III, Burlington, VT (US);
Cong Wei, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
Werner Moser, Gebertingen, CH;
Matthias Kutter, Staefa, CH;
Joseph Knee, Cromwell, CT (US);
Walter Imfeld, Zurich, CH;
Bruno Greuter, Wolfhausen, CH;
Heinz Stuenzi, Hombrechtiken, CH;
Other;
Abstract
An apparatus is described for detecting the presence of a gaseous chemical produced during a chemical-mechanical polishing operation. The apparatus includes a catalytic converter, a reaction chamber and a light sensor. The catalytic converter, heated to about 800° C. converts the chemical to a different chemical product. The reaction chamber produces an excited species; the pressure in the reaction chamber is maintained sufficiently low to substantially avoid collisional deactivation of the excited species, so as to permit real-time detection of the chemical. A light signal from the excited species is input to the light sensor. An output from the light sensor corresponds to the real-time detection of the chemical, thereby permitting real-time control of the chemical-mechanical polishing operation.