Patents Assigned to Veeco Instruments
  • ALKYL PUSH FLOW FOR VERTICAL FLOW ROTATING DISK REACTORS
    Publication number: 20140224178
    Abstract: In a rotating disk reactor (1) for growing epitaxial layers on substrate (3), gas directed toward the substrates at different radial distances from the axis of rotation of the disk has substantially the same velocity. The gas directed toward portions of the disk remote from the axis (10a) may include a higher concentration of a reactant gas (4) than the gas directed toward portions of the disk close to the axis (10d), so that portions of the substrate surfaces at different distances from the axis (14) receive substantially the same amount of reactant gas (4) per unit area. A desirable flow pattern is achieved within the reactor while permitting uniform deposition and growth of epitaxial layers on the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2014
    Publication date: August 14, 2014
    Applicant: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Murphy, Richard Hoffman, Jonathan Cruel, Lev Kadinski, Jeffrey C. Ramer, Eric A. Armour
  • Fault tolerant ion source power system
    Patent number: 8755165
    Abstract: The presently disclosed technology provides a responsive ion beam source power supply system capable of handling fault events without relying on conventional protection circuitry (e.g., fuses and breakers) so that physical power supply hardware intervention by a user is minimized for typical fault conditions and the ion beam source power supply system may recover automatically after experiencing a fault condition. The presently disclosed technology further discloses an ion beam source power supply system capable of detecting and diagnosing fault states, autonomously implementing command decisions to preserve or protect the function of other ion source modules or sub-systems, and/or mitigating or recovering from the disruptive fault event and returning the ion beam source system to desired user settings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis John Hansen, James David Deakins, Curtis Charles Camus
  • Automated cassette-to-cassette substrate handling system
    Patent number: 8676375
    Abstract: An automated cassette-to-cassette substrate handling system includes a cassette storage module for storing a plurality of substrates in cassettes before and after processing. A substrate carrier storage module stores a plurality of substrate carriers. A substrate carrier loading/unloading module loads substrates from the cassette storage module onto the plurality of substrate carriers and unloads substrates from the plurality of substrate carriers to the cassette storage module. A transport mechanism transports the plurality of substrates between the cassette storage module and the plurality of substrate carriers and transports the plurality of substrate carriers between the substrate carrier loading/unloading module and a processing chamber. A vision system recognizes recesses in the plurality of substrate carriers corresponding to empty substrate positions in the substrate carrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Arthur Kraus, Jeremy James Boyer, Joseph Mack, Michael DeChellis, Michael Koo
  • Chemical vapor deposition flow inlet elements and methods
    Patent number: 8636847
    Abstract: A flow inlet element (22) for a chemical vapor deposition reactor (10) is formed from a plurality of elongated tubular elements (64, 65) extending side-by-side with one another in a plane transverse to the upstream to downstream direction of the reactor. The tubular elements have inlets for ejecting gas in the downstream direction. A wafer carrier (14) rotates around an upstream to downstream axis. The gas distribution elements may provide a pattern of gas distribution which is asymmetrical with respect to a medial plane (108) extending through the axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2014
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Mikhail Belousov, Bojan Mitrovic, Keng Moy
  • System and method for varying wafer surface temperature via wafer-carrier temperature offset
    Patent number: 8603248
    Abstract: A system and method for evenly heating a substrate placed in a wafer carrier used in wafer treatment systems such as chemical vapor deposition reactors, wherein a first pattern of wafer compartments is provided on the top of the wafer carrier, such as one or more rings of wafer carriers, and a second pattern of inlaid material dissimilar to the wafer carrier material is inlaid on the bottom of the wafer carrier, and the second pattern of inlaid material is substantially the opposite of the first pattern of wafer compartments, such that there are at least as many material interfaces in intermediate regions without wafer compartments as there are in wafer carrying regions with wafers and wafer compartments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Alex Gurary, Eric A. Armour, Richard Hoffman, Jonathan Cruel
  • Method For Improving Performance Of A Substrate Carrier
    Publication number: 20130284091
    Abstract: A method of modifying a substrate carrier to improve process performance includes depositing material or fabricating devices on a substrate supported by a substrate carrier. A parameter of layers deposited on the substrate is then measured as a function of their corresponding positions on the substrate carrier. The measured parameter of at least some devices fabricated on the substrate or a property of the deposited layers is related to a physical characteristic of substrate carrier to obtain a plurality of physical characteristics of the substrate carrier corresponding to a plurality of positions on the substrate carrier. The physical characteristic of the substrate carrier is then modified at one or more of the plurality of corresponding positions on the substrate carrier to obtain desired parameters of the deposited layers or fabricated devices as a function of position on the substrate carrier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2013
    Publication date: October 31, 2013
    Applicant: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Joshua Mangum, William E. Quinn
  • Sectional wafer carrier
    Patent number: 8562746
    Abstract: A structure for a chemical vapor deposition reactor includes a support element defining oppositely-facing substantially planar upper and lower surfaces and a vertical rotational axis substantially perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces, and a plurality of carrier sections releasably engaged with the support element. Each carrier section can include oppositely-facing substantially planar top and bottom surfaces and at least one aperture extending between the top and bottom surfaces. The carrier sections can be disposed on the support element with the bottom surfaces of the carrier sections facing toward the upper surface of the support element, so that wafers can be held in the apertures of the carrier sections with one surface of each wafer confronting the support element and an opposite surface exposed at the top surface of the carrier sections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander I. Gurary, Joseph Arthur Kraus, Ajit Paranjpe, William E. Quinn, David Albert Crewe
  • Enhanced wafer carrier
    Patent number: 8535445
    Abstract: A wafer carrier used in wafer treatments such as chemical vapor deposition has pockets for holding the wafers and support surfaces for supporting the wafers above the floors of the pockets. The carrier is provided with locks for restraining wafers against upward movement away from the support surfaces. Constraining the wafers against upward movement limits the effect of wafer distortion on the spacing between the wafer and the floor surfaces, and thus limits the effects of wafer distortion on heat transfer. The carrier may include a main portion and minor portions having higher thermal conductivity than the main portion, the minor portions being disposed below the pockets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Boris Volf, Yuliy Rashkovsky
  • Split laser scribe
    Patent number: 8519298
    Abstract: A dual-beam laser cutting system uses laser beam polarization to output two identical laser beams. The dual identical laser beams are spaced appropriately to simultaneously cut a water thus increasing the laser cutting system's throughput as compared to a single-laser cutting system. In one implementation, the dual-beam laser cutting system 100 utilizes a beam expander 220, two half-wave plates 224, 238, a polarizing beam splitter 228, a mirror 236, and two lenses 234, 242 to provide two identical laser beams 202, 204 from a single laser source 214. The identical laser beams 202, 204 are tuned to have the same power, cross-sectional diameter, and polarization direction. One of the half-wave plates 224 is rotated to yield laser beams with the same power. The other half-wave plate 238 is rotated to yield laser beams with the same polarization direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Jianmin Wang, Craig Metzner, Gregory W. Schuh
  • Method for improving performance of a substrate carrier
    Patent number: 8486726
    Abstract: A method of modifying a substrate carrier to improve process performance includes depositing material or fabricating devices on a substrate supported by a substrate carrier. A parameter of layers deposited on the substrate is then measured as a function of their corresponding positions on the substrate carrier. The measured parameter of at least some devices fabricated on the substrate or a property of the deposited layers is related to a physical characteristic of substrate carrier to obtain a plurality of physical characteristics of the substrate carrier corresponding to a plurality of positions on the substrate carrier. The physical characteristic of the substrate carrier is then modified at one or more of the plurality of corresponding positions on the substrate carrier to obtain desired parameters of the deposited layers or fabricated devices as a function of position on the substrate carrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Joshua Mangum, William E. Quinn
  • Exhaust for CVD reactor
    Patent number: 8460466
    Abstract: A chemical vapor deposition reactor and a method of wafer processing are provided. The reactor includes a reaction chamber having an interior, a gas inlet manifold communicating with the interior of the chamber, an exhaust system including an exhaust manifold having a passage and one or more ports, and one or more cleaning elements mounted within the chamber. The gas inlet manifold can admit process gasses to form a deposit on substrates held within the interior. The passage can communicate with the interior of the chamber through the one or more ports. The one or more cleaning elements are movable between (i) a run position in which the cleaning elements are remote from the one or more ports and (ii) a cleaning position in which the one or more cleaning elements are engaged in the one or more ports.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventor: Alex Gurary
  • Apparatus and method for batch non-contact material characterization
    Patent number: 8441653
    Abstract: An apparatus for performing non-contact material characterization includes a wafer carrier adapted to hold a plurality of substrates and a material characterization device, such as a device for performing photoluminescence spectroscopy. The apparatus is adapted to perform non-contact material characterization on at least a portion of the wafer carrier, including the substrates disposed thereon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Dong Seung Lee, Mikhail Belousov, Eric A. Armour, William E. Quinn
  • Wafer carrier having pockets
    Patent number: D686175
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander I. Gurary, Keng Moy, Paul Chang
  • Wafer carrier having pockets
    Patent number: D686582
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Sandeep Krishnan, Keng Moy
  • Keyed wafer carrier
    Patent number: D687790
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Sandeep Krishnan, Keng Moy, Alexander I. Gurary, Matthew King, Vadim Boguslavskiy, Steven Krommenhoek
  • Multi-keyed wafer carrier
    Patent number: D687791
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Sandeep Krishnan, Keng Moy, Alexander I. Gurary, Matthew King, Vadim Boguslavskiy, Steven Krommenhoek
  • Wafer carrier having pockets
    Patent number: D690671
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander I. Gurary, Keng Moy, Chenghung Paul Chang
  • Wafer carrier having pockets
    Patent number: D695241
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander I. Gurary, Keng Moy, Chenghung Paul Chang
  • Wafer carrier having pockets
    Patent number: D695242
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander I. Gurary, Keng Moy, Paul Chang
  • Multi-keyed spindle
    Patent number: D711332
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Sandeep Krishnan, Keng Moy, Alexander I. Gurary, Matthew King, Vadim Boguslavskiy, Steven Krommenhoek