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:
May. 25, 2010
Filed:
Feb. 21, 2007
Holger Graefe, Goettingen, DE;
Uwe Wiedenbruch, Worbis, DE;
Thomas Schroeder, Goettingen, DE;
Frank Simon, Goettingen, DE;
Elko Bergmann, Goettingen, DE;
Holger Graefe, Goettingen, DE;
Uwe Wiedenbruch, Worbis, DE;
Thomas Schroeder, Goettingen, DE;
Frank Simon, Goettingen, DE;
Elko Bergmann, Goettingen, DE;
Coherent, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides laser beam micro-smoothing for laser annealing systems. Laser beam micro-smoothing comprises shifting a laser beam in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction (y) of a laser annealing system, while holding the laser beam fixed in the direction of scanning (x). The shifting may be accomplished, for example, with a pair of micro-smoothing mirrors. The shifting smoothes out small-scale inhomogeneities in the profile of the laser beam and prevents microscopic stripes associated with prior art laser annealing systems. Because the shifting occurs only in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction (y), the laser annealing process in not adversely affected.