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:
Nov. 14, 2006
Filed:
Oct. 24, 2005
Martin Ebert, Fremont, CA (US);
LI Chen, Fremont, CA (US);
Martin Ebert, Fremont, CA (US);
Li Chen, Fremont, CA (US);
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An ellipsometric apparatus provides two impinging focused probe beams directed to reflect off the sample along two mutually distinct and preferably substantially perpendicular directions. A rotating stage rotates sections of the wafer into the travel area defined by two linear axes of two perpendicularly oriented linear stages. As a result, an entire wafer is accessed for measurement with the linear stages having a travel range of only half the wafer diameter. The reduced linear travel results in a small travel envelope occupied by the wafer and, consequently, a small footprint of the apparatus. The use of two perpendicularly directed probe beams permits measurement of periodic structures along a preferred direction while permitting the use of a reduced motion stage.