Patents by Inventor Hiroshi Sobukawa

Hiroshi Sobukawa has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20230173636
    Abstract: To terminate polishing at an appropriate position, an end point position of the polishing is sensed. According to one embodiment, a method that chemomechanically polishes a substrate including a functional chip is provided. The method includes: a step of disposing the functional chip on the substrate; a step of disposing an end point sensing element on the substrate; a step of sealing the substrate on which the functional chip and the end point sensing element are disposed with an insulating material; a step of polishing the insulating material; and a step of sensing an end point of the polishing based on the end point sensing element while the insulating material is polished.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2023
    Publication date: June 8, 2023
    Inventors: Tetsuji TOGAWA, Hiroshi SOBUKAWA, Masahiro HATAKEYAMA
  • Patent number: 11607769
    Abstract: A CMP polishing apparatus for flattening a quadrate substrate is provided. A polishing apparatus for polishing a quadrate substrate is provided. The polishing apparatus includes a substrate holding portion configured to hold the quadrate substrate. The substrate holding portion includes a quadrate substrate supporting surface that supports the substrate, and an attachment mechanism that attaches a retainer member to be disposed at an outside of at least one corner portion of the substrate supporting surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: EBARA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tetsuji Togawa, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Masahiro Hatakeyama
  • Patent number: 11597051
    Abstract: To terminate polishing at an appropriate position, an end point position of the polishing is sensed. According to one embodiment, a method that chemomechanically polishes a substrate including a functional chip is provided. The method includes: a step of disposing the functional chip on the substrate; a step of disposing an end point sensing element on the substrate; a step of sealing the substrate on which the functional chip and the end point sensing element are disposed with an insulating material; a step of polishing the insulating material; and a step of sensing an end point of the polishing based on the end point sensing element while the insulating material is polished.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: EBARA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tetsuji Togawa, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Masahiro Hatakeyama
  • Patent number: 10995765
    Abstract: A magnetic levitated pump that does not cause pulsation of a pumped liquid and can suppress the generation of particles, which are liable to be produced by contact of a sliding part, is disclosed. The magnetic levitated pump for magnetically levitating an impeller housed in a pump casing includes a motor configured to rotate the impeller, and an electromagnet configured to magnetically support the impeller. The motor and the electromagnet are arranged so as to face each other across the impeller, and the motor is arranged on the opposite side of a suction port of the pump casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: EBARA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ichiju Sato, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Toshimitsu Barada, Tomonori Ohashi, Satoshi Mori
  • Publication number: 20200391341
    Abstract: To terminate polishing at an appropriate position, an end point position of the polishing is sensed. According to one embodiment, a method that chemomechanically polishes a substrate including a functional chip is provided. The method includes: a step of disposing the functional chip on the substrate; a step of disposing an end point sensing element on the substrate; a step of sealing the substrate on which the functional chip and the end point sensing element are disposed with an insulating material; a step of polishing the insulating material; and a step of sensing an end point of the polishing based on the end point sensing element while the insulating material is polished.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2018
    Publication date: December 17, 2020
    Applicant: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuji TOGAWA, Hiroshi SOBUKAWA, Masahiro HATAKEYAMA
  • Publication number: 20200130131
    Abstract: A CMP polishing apparatus for flattening a quadrate substrate is provided. A polishing apparatus for polishing a quadrate substrate is provided. The polishing apparatus includes a substrate holding portion configured to hold the quadrate substrate. The substrate holding portion includes a quadrate substrate supporting surface that supports the substrate, and an attachment mechanism that attaches a retainer member to be disposed at an outside of at least one corner portion of the substrate supporting surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2018
    Publication date: April 30, 2020
    Inventors: Tetsuji Togawa, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Masahiro Hatakeyama
  • Publication number: 20160131141
    Abstract: A magnetic levitated pump that does not cause pulsation of a pumped liquid and can suppress the generation of particles, which are liable to be produced by contact of a sliding part, is disclosed. The magnetic levitated pump for magnetically levitating an impeller housed in a pump casing includes a motor configured to rotate the impeller, and an electromagnet configured to magnetically support the impeller. The motor and the electromagnet are arranged so as to face each other across the impeller, and the motor is arranged on the opposite side of a suction port of the pump casing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2015
    Publication date: May 12, 2016
    Applicant: EBARA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ichiju SATO, Hiroshi SOBUKAWA, Toshimitsu BARADA, Tomonori OHASHI, Satoshi MORI
  • Patent number: 9105444
    Abstract: An electro-optical inspection apparatus is provided that is capable of preventing adhesion of dust or particles to the sample surface as much as possible. A stage (100) on which a sample (200) is placed is disposed inside a vacuum chamber (112) that can be evacuated to vacuum, and a dust collecting electrode (122) is disposed to surround a periphery of the sample (200). The dust collecting electrode (122) is applied with a voltage having the same polarity as a voltage applied to the sample (200) and an absolute value that is the same or larger than an absolute value of the voltage. Thus, because dust or particles such as particles adhere to the dust collecting electrode (122), adhesion of the dust or particles to the sample surface can be reduced. Instead of using the dust collecting electrode, it is possible to form a recess on a wall of the vacuum chamber containing the stage, or to dispose on the wall a metal plate having a mesh structure to which a predetermined voltage is applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: EBARA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenji Watanabe, Masahiro Hatakeyama, Yoshihiko Naito, Tatsuya Kohama, Kenji Terao, Takeshi Murakami, Takehide Hayashi, Kiwamu Tsukamoto, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Norio Kimura
  • Publication number: 20140091215
    Abstract: An electro-optical inspection apparatus is provided that is capable of preventing adhesion of dust or particles to the sample surface as much as possible. A stage (100) on which a sample (200) is placed is disposed inside a vacuum chamber (112) that can be evacuated to vacuum, and a dust collecting electrode (122) is disposed to surround a periphery of the sample (200). The dust collecting electrode (122) is applied with a voltage having the same polarity as a voltage applied to the sample (200) and an absolute value that is the same or larger than an absolute value of the voltage. Thus, because dust or particles such as particles adhere to the dust collecting electrode (122), adhesion of the dust or particles to the sample surface can be reduced. Instead of using the dust collecting electrode, it is possible to form a recess on a wall of the vacuum chamber containing the stage, or to dispose on the wall a metal plate having a mesh structure to which a predetermined voltage is applied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Kenji WATANABE, Masahiro HATAKEYAMA, Yoshihiko NAITO, Tatsuya KOHAMA, Kenji TERAO, Takeshi MURAKAMI, Takehide HAYASHI, Kiwamu TSUKAMOTO, Hiroshi SOBUKAWA, Norio KIMURA
  • Patent number: 8624182
    Abstract: An electro-optical inspection apparatus prevents adhesion of dust or particles to a sample surface, wherein a stage on which a sample is placed is disposed inside a vacuum chamber that can be evacuated, and a dust collecting electrode is disposed to surround a periphery of the sample. The dust collecting electrode is applied with a voltage having the same polarity as a voltage applied to the sample and an absolute value that is the same or larger than an absolute value of the voltage. Because dust or particles adhere to the dust collecting electrode, adhesion of the dust or particles to the sample surface can be reduced. Instead of using the dust collecting electrode, it is possible to form a recess on a wall of the vacuum chamber, or to dispose on the wall a metal plate having a mesh structure to which a predetermined voltage is applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Kenji Watanabe, Masahiro Hatakeyama, Yoshihiko Naito, Tatsuya Kohama, Kenji Terao, Takeshi Murakami, Takehide Hayashi, Kiwamu Tsukamoto, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Norio Kimura
  • Publication number: 20130259712
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a vacuum evacuation apparatus which can be mounted in a posture that can freely be selected a vacuum evacuation apparatus for evacuating a container from an atmospheric pressure to a high vacuum or less includes a first vacuum pump for evacuating the container to a high vacuum or less, and a second vacuum pump for evacuating the container from an atmospheric pressure to a medium or low vacuum the first vacuum pump and the second vacuum pump are integrally connected to each other into an integral unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2013
    Publication date: October 3, 2013
    Applicant: EBARA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kawasaki, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Atsushi Oyama
  • Patent number: 8530869
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light source apparatus comprises a target supply unit supplying a target into a vacuum chamber, a laser oscillator outputting a laser light into the vacuum chamber, a collector mirror outputting an extreme ultraviolet light outside by reflecting the extreme ultraviolet light emitted from the target being ionized as a plasma by irradiation with the laser light at a plasma luminescence point in the vacuum chamber, and an ion debris removal unit at least a part of which is located in an obscuration region including the plasma luminescence point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignees: Gigaphoton Inc., Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Topcon
    Inventors: Shinji Nagai, Takanobu Ishihara, Kouji Kakizaki, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Takeshi Murakami, Masahiro Inoue
  • Publication number: 20120074316
    Abstract: An electro-optical inspection apparatus is provided that is capable of preventing adhesion of dust or particles to the sample surface as much as possible. A stage (100) on which a sample (200) is placed is disposed inside a vacuum chamber (112) that can be evacuated to vacuum, and a dust collecting electrode (122) is disposed to surround a periphery of the sample (200). The dust collecting electrode (122) is applied with a voltage having the same polarity as a voltage applied to the sample (200) and an absolute value that is the same or larger than an absolute value of the voltage. Thus, because dust or particles such as particles adhere to the dust collecting electrode (122), adhesion of the dust or particles to the sample surface can be reduced. Instead of using the dust collecting electrode, it is possible to form a recess on a wall of the vacuum chamber containing the stage, or to dispose on the wall a metal plate having a mesh structure to which a predetermined voltage is applied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2011
    Publication date: March 29, 2012
    Inventors: Kenji WATANABE, Masahiro HATAKEYAMA, Yoshihiko NAITO, Tatsuya KOHAMA, Kenji TERAO, Takeshi MURAKAMI, Takehide HAYASHI, Kiwamu TSUKAMOTO, Hiroshi SOBUKAWA, Norio KIMURA
  • Patent number: 8109744
    Abstract: An oil-free turbo vacuum pump is capable of evacuating gas in a chamber from atmospheric pressure to high vacuum. The turbo vacuum pump includes a pumping section having rotor blades and stator blades which are disposed alternately in a casing, a main shaft for supporting the rotor blades, and a bearing and motor section having a motor for rotating the main shaft and a bearing mechanism for supporting the main shaft rotatably. A gas bearing is used as a bearing for supporting the main shaft in a thrust direction, spiral grooves are formed in both surfaces of a stationary part of the gas bearing, and the stationary part having the spiral grooves is placed between an upper rotating part and a lower rotating part which are fixed to the main shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2012
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kawasaki, Hiroaki Ogamino, Hiroshi Sobukawa
  • Patent number: 8067732
    Abstract: An electron beam emitted from an electron gun (G) forms a reduced image on a sample (S) through a non-dispersion Wien-filter (5-1), an electromagnetic deflector (11-1), a beam separator (12-1), and a tablet lens (17-1) as an objective lens. The beam separator (12-1) is configured such that a distance by which a secondary electron beam passes through the beam separator is approximately three times longer than a distance by which a primary electron beam passes through the beam separator. Therefore, even if a magnetic field in the beam separator is set to deflect the primary electron beam by a small angle equal to or less than approximately 10 degrees, the secondary electron beam can be deflected by approximately 30 degrees, so that the primary and secondary electron beams are sufficiently separated. Also, since the primary electron beam is deflected by a small angle, less aberration occurs in the primary electron beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Mamoru Nakasuji, Takeshi Murakami, Tohru Satake, Tsutomi Karimata, Toshifumi Kimba, Matsutaro Miyamoto, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Satoshi Mori, Yuichiro Yamazaki, Ichirota Nagahama
  • Publication number: 20110266468
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light source apparatus comprises a target supply unit supplying a target into a vacuum chamber, a laser oscillator outputting a laser light into the vacuum chamber, a collector mirror outputting an extreme ultraviolet light outside by reflecting the extreme ultraviolet light emitted from the target being ionized as a plasma by irradiation with the laser light at a plasma luminescence point in the vacuum chamber, and an ion debris removal unit at least a part of which is located in an obscuration region including the plasma luminescence point.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2011
    Publication date: November 3, 2011
    Applicants: Gigaphoton Inc., Kabushiki Kaisha Topcon, Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Shinji NAGAI, Takanobu Ishihara, Kouji Kakizaki, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Takeshi Murakami, Masahiro Inoue
  • Patent number: 8003963
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light source apparatus comprises a target supply unit supplying a target into a vacuum chamber, a laser oscillator outputting a laser light into the vacuum chamber, a collector mirror outputting an extreme ultraviolet light outside by reflecting the extreme ultraviolet light emitted from the target being ionized as a plasma by irradiation with the laser light at a plasma luminescence point in the vacuum chamber, and an ion debris removal unit at least a part of which is located in an obscuration region including the plasma luminescence point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignees: Gigaphton Inc., Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Topcon
    Inventors: Shinji Nagai, Takanobu Ishihara, Kouji Kakizaki, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Takeshi Murakami, Masahiro Inoue
  • Publication number: 20100108918
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light source apparatus comprises a target supply unit supplying a target into a vacuum chamber, a laser oscillator outputting a laser light into the vacuum chamber, a collector mirror outputting an extreme ultraviolet light outside by reflecting the extreme ultraviolet light emitted from the target being ionized as a plasma by irradiation with the laser light at a plasma luminescence point in the vacuum chamber, and an ion debris removal unit at least a part of which is located in an obscuration region including the plasma luminescence point.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2009
    Publication date: May 6, 2010
    Inventors: Shinji Nagai, Takanobu Ishihara, Kouji Kakizaki, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Takeshi Murakami, Masahiro Inoue
  • Publication number: 20090246038
    Abstract: An oil-free turbo vacuum pump is capable of evacuating gas in a chamber from atmospheric pressure to high vacuum. The turbo vacuum pump includes a pumping section having rotor blades and stator blades which are disposed alternately in a casing, a main shaft for supporting the rotor blades, and a bearing and motor section having a motor for rotating the main shaft and a bearing mechanism for supporting the main shaft rotatably. A gas bearing is used as a bearing for supporting the main shaft in a thrust direction, spiral grooves are formed in both surfaces of a stationary part of the gas bearing, and the stationary part having the spiral grooves is placed between an upper rotating part and a lower rotating part which are fixed to the main shaft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2009
    Publication date: October 1, 2009
    Applicant: EBARA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroyuki KAWASAKI, Hiroaki OGAMINO, Hiroshi SOBUKAWA
  • Publication number: 20090218506
    Abstract: An electron beam emitted from an electron gun (G) forms a reduced image on a sample (S) through a non-dispersion Wien-filter (5-1), an electromagnetic deflector (11-1), a beam separator (12-1), and a tablet lens (17-1) as an objective lens. The beam separator (12-1) is configured such that a distance by which a secondary electron beam passes through the beam separator is approximately three times longer than a distance by which a primary electron beam passes through the beam separator. Therefore, even if a magnetic field in the beam separator is set to deflect the primary electron beam by a small angle equal to or less than approximately 10 degrees, the secondary electron beam can be deflected by approximately 30 degrees, so that the primary and secondary electron beams are sufficiently separated. Also, since the primary electron beam is deflected by a small angle, less aberration occurs in the primary electron beam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2006
    Publication date: September 3, 2009
    Applicant: EBARA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mamoru Nakasuji, Takeshi Murakami, Tohru Satake, Tsutomu Karimata, Toshifumi Kimba, Matsutaro Miyamoto, Hiroshi Sobukawa, Satoshi Mori