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:
Mar. 24, 2009
Filed:
Mar. 27, 2008
Akitake Tamura, Nirasaki, JP;
Kaoru Fujihara, Nirasaki, JP;
Teruyuki Hayashi, Nirasaki, JP;
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a particle measuring method for irradiating light to a surface of a substrate to scatter the light so as to measure a condition of particles on the substrate based on the scattered light. The particle measuring method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: heating a certain liquid to obtain a steam; supplying the steam onto a substrate so that a content of the steam is absorbed by each particle, while a temperature of the substrate is maintained in such a manner that the steam does not condense on the substrate; cooling the substrate before the particle dries so that the content absorbed by the particle is solidified, while preventing generation of solidified substance on regions of the surface of the substrate to which no particle adheres; and irradiating light to the substrate to scatter the light and detecting the scattered light, under a condition in which the content absorbed by the particle has been solidified.