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:
Aug. 24, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 28, 2002
Applicant:
Inventors:
Mike Laughery, Austin, TX (US);
Makoto Miyagi, Austin, TX (US);
Assignee:
Timbre Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G03F 9/00 ; G03C 5/00 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G03F 9/00 ; G03C 5/00 ;
Abstract
A method and apparatus for measuring the alignment of masks in a photolithographic process. A first grating is formed having lines and spaces on a wafer using a first mask having a pattern for the first grating. A second grating is formed having lines and spaces on the wafer using a second mask having a pattern for the second grating and also the pattern for forming the first grating. A determination is then made based on the difference in the width of either the lines or the spaces of the first and second gratings formed on the wafer if the first and second masks are misaligned.