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:
Mar. 16, 2004
Filed:
Oct. 06, 2000
Applicant:
Inventor:
Reginald Hunter, Round Rock, TX (US);
Assignee:
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 2/188 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 2/188 ;
Abstract
The present invention generally provides an apparatus and a method for inspecting a substrate in a processing system. More specifically, optical signal routing methods and apparatus provide multiple inspection collection points on a semiconductor processing system. In one aspect, an optical inspection system comprises a light source and an optical receiving device, such as a CCD camera, to illuminate and inspect a substrate for various optical signatures. A plurality of optical inspection systems are connected to a signal switching device, such as a multiplexer, which operates to route a particular signal to a detector.