Patents Examined by Sylvia R. MacArthur
  • Patent number: 8303715
    Abstract: A high throughput thermal treatment system for processing a plurality of substrates is described. The thermal treatment system is configured to thermally treat a plurality of substrates chemically treated in a dry, non-plasma environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Thomas Hamelin, Arthur H. Laflamme, Jr., Gregory R. Whyman
  • Patent number: 8297225
    Abstract: A decoupled capacitive CVD reactor is described, which provides improved CVD capabilities, including processing at lower temperatures, performing alternating deposition and etching steps, and performing in situ cleaning of the chamber, without the need for a remote plasma source. Two RF frequencies are coupled to the susceptor, while the anode is grounded. The high frequency RF source is operated so as to control the plasma density, while the low frequency RF source is operated to control species bombardment on the substrate, so as to control the properties of the film being deposited. Additionally, both RF sources may be controlled, together with selection of gasses supplied to the chamber, to operate the chamber either in deposition mode, partial etch mode, etching mode, or cleaning mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment, Inc. Asia
    Inventors: Gerald Yin, Jinyuan Chen, Tuqiang Ni
  • Patent number: 8297226
    Abstract: A movable deposition box (02) for silicon-based thin film solar cell comprises an electrode array composed of at least a group of cathode plates (203) and a piece of anode plate (208) which are set in movable chamber, wherein a feeding socket (203-1) is positioned on a circular or semicircular concave surface in the center area on the backside of the cathode plates (203), a circular or semicircular end face (201-1) of a feeding component (201) which has a flat middle part contacts the signal feeding socket (203-1) and feeds in RF/VHF power signal, the anode plate (208) is grounded, and a shield cover (204) of the cathode plate has through-hole (204-1) and is insulated from the cathode plate (203).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Shenzhen Trony Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yi Li
  • Patent number: 8293071
    Abstract: Provided is a spin head for supporting and rotating a substrate. The spin head includes a body, chuck pins disposed at the body and movable between supporting positions and rest positions, and a chuck pin moving unit configured to move the chuck pins straight. The chuck pins supports a substrate at the supporting positions and provides a substrate loading/unloading space at the rest position. The chuck pin moving unit includes movable rods fixed to the chuck pins, a rotatable cam including protrusions on an outer surface thereof so as to move the chuck pins from the supporting positions to the rest positions, and chuck pin return units respectively applying forces to the movable rods so as to move the chuck pins individually from the rest positions to the supporting positions. The chuck pin moving unit further includes contact maintaining members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Semes Co., Ltd
    Inventor: Taek-Youb Lee
  • Patent number: 8293070
    Abstract: In oxygen ion implantation equipment, a chamber has a bottom wall on one end face thereof and is open in the other end face thereof. A wafer holder rotatably holding a plurality of wafers on the same circumference of a circle is housed in the chamber. Inside a cap closing an opening of the chamber while making the chamber airtight with a sealing member, a coolant passage is formed near the sealing member. A plurality of lamp heaters are disposed so as to extend in the direction of the tangent to the circumference of the cap and align parallel to the direction of the radius of the cap, in such a way as to face one wafer held by the wafer holder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Sumco Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshiro Aoki
  • Patent number: 8291858
    Abstract: A movable jig for a silicon-based thin film solar cell comprises parallel electrode plates (203,208), a supporting frame and a signal feed-in assembly (201). The supporting frame is a movable frame and its side frame (216) is grounded. A shield device is set on the jig or among jig arrays themselves for preventing from being disturbed. The signal feed-in assembly is a conductor and its middle portion and head portion form a ladder cylinder, and one end surface (201-1) of the signal feed-in assembly is triangular and can surface contact and connect with a sunken triangular feed-in port (203-1) in the center area of the back surface of the cathode plate (203) of the electrode plates, so the radio frequency/the very high frequency power supply signal can be fed in.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Shenzhen Trony Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shengming Hu, Yi Li, Zhubing He, Zhijiang Li, Jianhua Zhou, Chunzhu Wang
  • Patent number: 8287751
    Abstract: A system and method is described for providing a continuous bath wetdeck process for use in the manufacture of semiconductor wafers. The invention provides a method for extending an effective working life of a chemical bath of the type that comprises a chemical bath liquid within a chemical bath container. An amount of fresh chemical is continuously added to the chemical bath liquid and an amount of chemical bath liquid is simultaneously purged from the chemical bath container. A balance is maintained between the amount of fresh chemical that is added to the chemical bath liquid and the amount of chemical bath liquid that is purged in order to maintain the effectiveness of the chemical bath liquid to clean semiconductor wafers within the chemical bath.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Jeffrey Hebert
  • Patent number: 8287688
    Abstract: A high throughput chemical treatment system for processing a plurality of substrates is described. The chemical treatment system is configured to chemically treat a plurality of substrates in a dry, non-plasma environment. A substrate support in the chemical treatment system is configured to support a plurality of substrates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Jay R. Wallace, Hiroyuki Takahashi
  • Patent number: 8282771
    Abstract: In a spin unit for rotating a substrate and a method of processing the substrate, the substrate is secured on a support and is rotated on the support. Processing materials including drying gases, etching solutions and cleaning solutions are selectively supplied onto a bottom surface of the rotating substrate. The same processing materials are also selectively supplied onto a top surface of the substrate. The top and bottom surfaces of the substrate are simultaneously processed by simultaneous supply of the processing materials through the first and second sub-injectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Semes Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Gil-Hun Song, Pyeng-Jae Park
  • Patent number: 8282737
    Abstract: A CVD device has a reaction furnace (39) for processing a wafer (1); a seal cap (20) for sealing the reaction furnace (39) hermetically; an isolation flange (42) opposite to the seal cap (20); a small chamber (43) formed by the seal cap (20), the isolation flange (42), and the wall surface in the reaction furnace (39); a feed pipe (19b) for supplying a first gas to the small chamber (43); an outflow passage (42a) provided in the small chamber (43) for allowing the first gas to flow into the reaction furnace (39); and a feed pipe (19a) provided downstream from the outflow passage (42a) for supplying a second gas into the reaction furnace (39). Byproducts such as NH4Cl are prevented from adhering to low temperature sections such as the furnace opening and therefore the semiconductor device production yield is therefore increased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Takashi Ozaki, Tomoshi Taniyama, Hiroshi Unami, Kiyohiko Maeda, Shinya Morita, Yoshikazu Takashima, Sadao Hisakado
  • Patent number: 8282766
    Abstract: An etch apparatus, especially for silicon nitride etch includes a control unit coupled to at least one component of the group of components comprising heater current sensors, a pump transducer sensor and a flow sensor provided for a diluting liquid. A malfunction of the apparatus is avoided and the etching process can be controlled for better performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Austriamicrosystems AG
    Inventors: Gerhard Eilmsteiner, Johann Ninaus
  • Patent number: 8277602
    Abstract: To ensure a uniform flow over the surface of a product W, an apparatus is provided for the wet chemical treatment of the product W that is disposed in the apparatus 100. This apparatus comprises at least one flow member 150 that includes respectively at least one paddle-like flow element 155, wherein at least one flow member 155 is disposed situated opposite the surface of the product W and is moveable substantially parallel to the surface of the product W.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Atotech Deutschland GmbH
    Inventors: Sebastian Dünnebeil, Heinz Klingl
  • Patent number: 8277570
    Abstract: A method for processing a substrate includes receiving a substrate and processing the substrate using a first fluid meniscus and a second fluid meniscus. The first fluid meniscus and the second fluid meniscus are applied to a surface of the substrate such that the first fluid meniscus is spaced apart from the second fluid meniscus by a transition region. A saturated gas chemistry is applied to the surface of the substrate at the transition region. The saturated gas chemistry is configured to maintain moisture in the transition region so as to prevent drying of the surface of the substrate in the transition region, before the second fluid meniscus is applied to the surface of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: LAM Research Corporation
    Inventors: Seokmin Yun, Mark Wilcosson
  • Patent number: 8268114
    Abstract: A workpiece holder for polishing includes a workpiece holder body having multiple perforated holes to hold a workpiece by vacuum suction. A holding surface of the workpiece holder body may be coated with resin. A coefficient of thermal expansion of the resin coating on the holding surface may be 1×10?5/K or less. The resin coating on the holding surface may be epoxy resin filled with silica particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Shin-Etsu Handotai Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hisashi Masumura, Fumio Suzuki, Kouji Kitagawa
  • Patent number: 8268115
    Abstract: An apparatus for applying different amounts of pressure to different locations of a semiconductor device structure or other substrate during polishing thereof. The apparatus is configured to be associated with a wafer carrier of a polishing apparatus and includes pressurization structures configured to individually apply pressure to a major surface of the semiconductor device structure during polishing thereof. Systems including the pressure application apparatus, as well as differential pressure application methods and polishing methods are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Round Rock Research, LLC
    Inventor: Nathan R. Brown
  • Patent number: 8262845
    Abstract: Systems and methods for processing semiconductor devices are disclosed. A preferred embodiment comprises a processing system that includes providing a processing system including a first container and a second container fluidly coupled to the first container, the second container being adapted to receive and retain an overflow amount of a fluid from the first container, and disposing the fluid in the first container and a portion of the second container. The method includes providing at least one semiconductor device, disposing the at least one semiconductor device in the first container, and maintaining the fluid in the second container substantially to a first level while processing the at least one semiconductor device with the fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Lothar Doni
  • Patent number: 8261908
    Abstract: Precursor source containers to hold precursor materials used in thin film deposition processes, such as ALD and MOCVD methods are described. In particular, the container holds both a liquid precursor or a dissolved precursor solution and a rinse solvent in separate chambers, and reduces the overall space requirement. In one embodiment, a cylinder within a cylinder arrangement provides two separate chambers, one for the precursor solution and the other for the rinse solvent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Linde Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Ce Ma
  • Patent number: 8262799
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate holding and rotating mechanism for holding and rotating a substrate; a positioning member disposed on the substrate holding and rotating mechanism for positioning a substrate at a predetermined substrate holding position; a substrate transfer mechanism for transferring a substrate to the substrate holding and rotating mechanism; and a pressing unit disposed on the substrate transfer mechanism for pressing a substrate toward the positioning member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Nobuhiko Nishide
  • Patent number: 8261693
    Abstract: An arc ion plating apparatus comprises a vacuum chamber, a rotary table for moving a substrate within the vacuum chamber vertically relative to its height direction, an arc evaporation source for bombardment for cleaning the surface of the substrate with metal ions, and an arc evaporation source for deposition group for depositing metal ions on the surface of the substrate. The arc evaporation source for deposition group is composed of a plurality of evaporation sources arranged so as to be opposite to the substrate set on the rotary table, and the arc evaporation source for bombardment is arranged so as to be opposite to the substrate, and formed so that its length in the height direction of the vacuum chamber is equal to the length between the upper and lower ends of the arc evaporation source for deposition group. According to such a structure, over temperature rise or abnormal discharge is hardly caused in the substrate at the time of bombardment, and process controllability is consequently enhanced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Tamagaki, Hirofumi Fujii, Tadao Okimoto, Ryoji Miyamoto
  • Patent number: 8257544
    Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing pad having a polishing layer with an integral window and a polishing surface adapted for polishing a substrate selected from a magnetic substrate, an optical substrate and a semiconductor substrate, wherein the formulation of the integral window provides improved defectivity performance during polishing. Also provided is a method of polishing a substrate using the chemical mechanical polishing pad.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials CMP Holdings, Inc.
    Inventors: Mary Jo Kulp, Shannon Holly Williams