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:
Jun. 06, 2006
Filed:
Feb. 22, 2002
Method and apparatus for measuring thickness of thin film and device manufacturing method using same
Mineo Nomoto, Yokohama, JP;
Takenori Hirose, Machida, JP;
Keiya Saito, Hiratsuka, JP;
Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A method for high-precision measurement of film thickness and the distribution of film thickness of a transparent film is disclosed. The method is performed during a CMP process, without being affected by the film thickness distribution among the LSI regions or on the semiconductor wafer surface. The film thickness is measured by specifying relatively level measurement regions, according to a characteristic quantity of the spectral waveform of the reflected light from the transparent film, such as the reflection intensity, frequency spectrum intensity. This permits highly accurate control of film thickness. The leveling process in CMP processing can be optimized on the basis of the film thickness distribution.