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. 26, 2005
Filed:
Mar. 01, 2002
Applicants:
Peter G. Borden, San Mateo, CA (US);
Ji-ping LI, Fremont, CA (US);
Inventors:
Peter G. Borden, San Mateo, CA (US);
Ji-Ping Li, Fremont, CA (US);
Assignee:
Boxer Cross Inc, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N021/88 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
A method and apparatus measure properties of two layers of a damascene structure (e.g. a silicon wafer during fabrication), and use the two measurements to identify a location as having voids. The two measurements may be used in any manner, e.g. compared to one another, and voids are deemed to be present when the two measurements diverge from each other. In response to the detection of voids, a process parameter used in fabrication of the damascene structure may be changed, to reduce or eliminate voids in to-be-formed structures.