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:
Jul. 26, 2005
Filed:
Aug. 05, 2004
Yehiel Gotkis, Fremont, CA (US);
Rodney Kistler, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Aleksander Owczarz, San Jose, CA (US);
David Hemker, San Jose, CA (US);
Nicolas J. Bright, San Jose, CA (US);
Yehiel Gotkis, Fremont, CA (US);
Rodney Kistler, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Aleksander Owczarz, San Jose, CA (US);
David Hemker, San Jose, CA (US);
Nicolas J. Bright, San Jose, CA (US);
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for detecting a thickness of a layer of a wafer to be processed is provided. The method includes defining a plurality of sensors configured to create a set of complementary sensors proximate the wafer. Further included in the method is distributing the plurality of sensors along a particular radius of the wafer such that each sensor of the plurality of sensors is out of phase with an adjacent sensor by a same angle. The method also includes measuring signals generated by the plurality of sensors. Further included is averaging the signals generated by the plurality of sensors so as to generate a combination signal. The averaging is configured to remove noise from the combination signal such that the combination signal is capable of being correlated to identify the thickness of the layer.