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:
Apr. 19, 2005
Filed:
Oct. 06, 2000
Reginald Hunter, Round Rock, TX (US);
Eduardo Marquis, Round Rock, TX (US);
Reginald Hunter, Round Rock, TX (US);
Eduardo Marquis, Round Rock, TX (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention generally provides an apparatus and a method for inspecting a substrate in a processing system. In one aspect, a light source is used in conjunction with an optical receiving device, such as a camera having a CCD, to illuminate and inspect a substrate for various optical signatures. The data collected during an inspection cycle is processed to determine substrate topography information. In one embodiment, the data is used to generate mean values indicative of signal intensity and/or color. One aspect provides for specular signature analysis where a reference histogram is subtracted from a test substrate histogram. The mean values are then compared to reference values to determine topographical conditions. Advantageously, a data processing system may be used to collect the data, perform the specular signature analysis, and determine the resultant processing conditions.