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:
Feb. 20, 2007
Filed:
Feb. 09, 2006
William Dinan Hinsberg, Iii, Fremont, CA (US);
John Allen Hoffnagle, San Jose, CA (US);
Frances Anne Houle, Fremont, CA (US);
Martha Inez Sanchez, Menlo Park, CA (US);
William Dinan Hinsberg, III, Fremont, CA (US);
John Allen Hoffnagle, San Jose, CA (US);
Frances Anne Houle, Fremont, CA (US);
Martha Inez Sanchez, Menlo Park, CA (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
An optical apparatus used for the efficient characterization of photoresist material includes at least one grating interferometer having at least two gratings that together define an optical recombination plane. An optical stop blocks any zeroth order beam from propagating through the apparatus. A reticle positioned at the recombination plane has at least one fiducial marking therein. A lithographic imaging optical tool is positioned so that its input optical plane is substantially coincident with the optical recombination plane and its output imaging plane is substantially coincident with photoresist on a wafer. The apparatus writes in the photoresist latent, sinusoidal grating patterns, preferably of different spatial frequencies, as well as at least one fiducial mark whose pattern is determined by the marking in the reticle. After the photoresist is developed, its intrinsic spatial resolution may be determined by automated means.