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:
Apr. 08, 2008
Filed:
Sep. 18, 2006
Lawrence C. Lei, Milpitas, CA (US);
Siqing LU, San Jose, CA (US);
Yu Chang, San Jose, CA (US);
Cecilia Martner, Los Gratos, CA (US);
Quyen Pham, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Yu P. Gu, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Joel Huston, San Jose, CA (US);
Paul Smith, Campbell, CA (US);
G. Lorimer Miller, Eastham, MA (US);
Lawrence C. Lei, Milpitas, CA (US);
Siqing Lu, San Jose, CA (US);
Yu Chang, San Jose, CA (US);
Cecilia Martner, Los Gratos, CA (US);
Quyen Pham, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Yu P. Gu, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Joel Huston, San Jose, CA (US);
Paul Smith, Campbell, CA (US);
G. Lorimer Miller, Eastham, MA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided for measuring the thickness of a test object. The apparatus includes an eddy current sensor having first and second sensor heads. The sensor heads are positioned to have a predetermined gap therebetween for passage by at least a portion of the test object through the gap. The sensor heads make measurements at given sampling locations on the test object as the test object is moved through the gap. The apparatus also includes a position sensing mechanism to determine positions of the sampling locations on the test object. The apparatus also includes an evaluation circuit in communication with the eddy current sensor and to the position sensing mechanism for determining the thickness of the test object at the sampling locations.