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:
Sep. 02, 2008
Filed:
Apr. 29, 2005
Bruno Schueler, San Jose, CA (US);
Bruno Schueler, San Jose, CA (US);
ReVera Incorporated, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
According to one embodiment of the invention, photoelectron spectroscopy is used to determine the thickness of one or more layers in a single or multi-layer structure on a substrate. The thickness may be determined by measuring the intensities of two photoelectron species or other atom-specific characteristic electron species emitted by the structure when bombarded with photons. A predictive intensity function that is dependent on the thickness of a layer is determined for each photoelectron species. A ratio of two predictive intensity functions is formulated, and the ratio is iterated to determine the thickness of a layer of the structure. According to one embodiment, two photoelectron species may be measured from a single layer to determine a thickness of that layer. According to another embodiment, two photoelectron species from different layers or from a substrate may be measured to determine a thickness of a layer.