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:
May. 04, 2004
Filed:
Sep. 12, 2001
Applicant:
Inventors:
Cory Watkins, Chanhassen, MN (US);
Alan Blair, St. Paul, MN (US);
Assignee:
August Technology Corp., Bloomington, MN (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 2/100 ; G01B 1/100 ; G03B 2/754 ; G03B 5/04 ; G03B 2/608 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 2/100 ; G01B 1/100 ; G03B 2/754 ; G03B 5/04 ; G03B 2/608 ;
Abstract
A confocal three dimensional inspection system, and process for use thereof, allows for inspecting of bumps and other three dimensional (3D) features on wafers and other semiconductor substrates. The sensor eliminates out of focus light using a confocal principal to improve depth response. This process and system creates multiple parallel confocal optical paths along a line. The out of focus light is eliminated by placing an aperture at a plane which is a conjugate focal plane to the surface of the sample. The result is that the sensor produces a signal only when the sample surface is in a narrow focal range.