Patents by Inventor Thomas Edwin Sandwick

Thomas Edwin Sandwick 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).

  • Vertical polishing tool and method
    Patent number: 5897425
    Abstract: A vertically-oriented wafer polishing apparatus and method is disclosed including a vertically-oriented polishing device, a semiconductor wafer carrier and a cleaning module to clean the polishing device by removing contaminants that may scratch the wafer and also reduce the polishing rate of the apparatus. The device reduces the "down time" of a polishing apparatus and, therefore, increases the yield of well-polished wafers in a given time period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1999
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas Robert Fisher, Jr., Carol Elaine Christine Gustafson, William Francis Landers, John Carlo Minunni, Jr., Thomas Edwin Sandwick, Adam Dan Ticknor
  • Assembly and method for making in process thin film thickness measurments
    Patent number: 5640242
    Abstract: An assembly for making thickness measurements in a thin film structure. The assembly comprises a chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) subassembly for effecting topographical changes in a thin film structure; and, a measuring subassembly for detecting the thickness of a thin film structure, the measuring subassembly interposed with the CMP subassembly so that a thickness measurement can be made during and independent of CMP process operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 17, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Martin Patrick O'Boyle, John Charles Panner, Thomas Edwin Sandwick, Theodore Gerard van Kessel, Hemantha Kumar Wickramasinghe