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:
Dec. 12, 2006
Filed:
Aug. 27, 2003
Palash P. Das, Vista, CA (US);
Jennan Yu, San Diego, CA (US);
Stuart L. Anderson, San Diego, CA (US);
Helmut Schillinger, Munich, DE;
Tobias Pflanz, Munich, DE;
Claus Strowitzki, Gilching, DE;
Claudia A. Hartmann, Mering, DE;
Stephan Geiger, Herbertshausen, DE;
Brett D. Smith, Cody, WY (US);
William N. Partlo, Poway, CA (US);
Palash P. Das, Vista, CA (US);
Jennan Yu, San Diego, CA (US);
Stuart L. Anderson, San Diego, CA (US);
Helmut Schillinger, Munich, DE;
Tobias Pflanz, Munich, DE;
Claus Strowitzki, Gilching, DE;
Claudia A. Hartmann, Mering, DE;
Stephan Geiger, Herbertshausen, DE;
Brett D. Smith, Cody, WY (US);
William N. Partlo, Poway, CA (US);
Cymer, Inc., San Diego, CA (US);
Abstract
A high repetition rate, compact, modular gas discharge, ultraviolet laser. The laser is useful as a light source for very rapid inspections of wafers in an integrated circuit fabrication process. It is also useful for reticle writing at very rapid rates. A preferred embodiment operates at pulse repetition rates of 1000 to 4000 Hz and is designed for round-the-clock production line operation. This preferred embodiment comprises a pulse control unit which controls the timing of pulses to an accuracy of less than 4 nanoseconds. Preferred embodiments of this gas discharge laser can be configured to operate with a KrF gas mixture, an ArF gas mixture or an Fgas mixture, each with an approximate buffer gas, producing 248 nm, 197 nm or 157 nm ultraviolet light pulses.