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. 27, 2007
Filed:
Mar. 29, 2006
Sterling G. Watson, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Ady Levy, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Chris A. Mack, Austin, TX (US);
Stanley E. Stokowski, Danville, CA (US);
Zain K. Saidin, San Mateo, CA (US);
Sterling G. Watson, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Ady Levy, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Chris A. Mack, Austin, TX (US);
Stanley E. Stokowski, Danville, CA (US);
Zain K. Saidin, San Mateo, CA (US);
KLA-Tencor Technologies Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
Reticles may comprise shading elements (SEs) for locally altering the reticle optical properties. However, such reticles may degrade over time as a result of repeated exposure to radiation in a lithography process, as the radiation may 'heal' the SEs. Disclosed are techniques for monitoring a reticle in order to maintain confidence about the reticle's optical properties and the uniformity of patterns on wafers that are to be printed using the reticle. Reticles undergo periodic inspection comprising reticle transmission measurement and/or aerial imaging of the reticle. When such inspection indicates sufficient reticle degradation, the reticle is tagged for correction prior to its subsequent use in a lithography process.