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:
Aug. 05, 2008
Filed:
Oct. 26, 2005
Klaus Freischlad, Tucson, AZ (US);
Shouhong Tang, Tucson, AZ (US);
Klaus Freischlad, Tucson, AZ (US);
Shouhong Tang, Tucson, AZ (US);
KLA-Tencor Technologies Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
Apparatus and methods are provided for analyzing surface characteristics of a test object using broadband scanning interferometry. Test objects amenable to these apparatus and methods include but are not limited to semiconductor wafers, semiconductor devices, metallic surfaces, and the like. An interferometry system is used to obtain an interferometry signal and related to data embodied in the signal representative of the test object surface. This signal and/or data is used to construct an n-dimensional function that includes an independent frequency variable and an independent time variable, and/or an n-dimensional function that includes an independent scale variable and an independent time variable, and/or a multi-domain function. These functions are compared with various models to obtain a best match that is then used to characterize the test object surface.