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. 04, 2006
Filed:
Feb. 06, 2004
Applicant:
Mitsuhiro Yuasa, Tokyo, JP;
Inventor:
Mitsuhiro Yuasa, Tokyo, JP;
Assignee:
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 19/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
A resonant frequency sensor is disposed in a plasma-processing chamber included in a semiconductor fabricating apparatus. A change in the resonant frequency caused by etching, sputtering or deposition is sensed in order to detect the timing of performing the maintenance of the processing chamber. If data representing the relationship between an amount of etching or deposition occurring at a predetermined position in the processing chamber and occurrence of an abnormality is produced in advance, an optimal maintenance timing can be determined.