Patents by Inventor Akihito Yamamoto

Akihito Yamamoto 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).

  • Patent number: 7195930
    Abstract: A cleaning method for use in an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: measuring components and concentration of each component of gas in a process chamber of an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, or selected from a group including gas in the chamber, a process gas in a gas inlet pipe, and gas in a gas outlet pipe; performing a prescribed process on a substrate in the chamber, while adjusting the components and the concentration of each component of the process gas, and of an atmosphere in the chamber, on the basis of the values measured, and taking the substrate from the chamber after the process is subjected; and generating and applying a cleaning gas on the basis of the values measured, the cleaning gas having such components and such concentration as to remove residues.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2007
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Takashi Shimizu, Akihito Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20070026149
    Abstract: In a process of annealing an insulating film such as a silicon oxide film (SiO2) or a silicon oxynitride film (SiON) provided in a processing chamber 6 within an atmosphere of an inert gas 2 guided from a first mass flow controller 3 via a gas inlet 7, an amount of SiO sublimated from the surface of the insulating film in the processing chamber 6 is measured by a mass spectrometer 10, and an amount of oxygen gas 4 guided to the processing chamber 6 from a second mass flow controller 5 is controlled by a controller 1 so that the SiO concentration does not exceed a predetermined level, thereby effectively controlling the SiO sublimation. As a result, the film deterioration caused by the SiO sublimation is prevented and an insulating film having a high reliability and good characteristics can be formed in a controllable manner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2006
    Publication date: February 1, 2007
    Inventors: Takashi Shimizu, Kazuo Saki, Kazuhiro Nishiki, Akihito Yamamoto, Shinji Mori
  • Patent number: 7145667
    Abstract: There is here disclosed a semiconductor device manufacturing method, comprising arranging at least one subject piece in a processing chamber, and starting a predetermined processing, applying a light having a predetermined wavelength to a monitoring section which is formed to enable transmission and reflection of the light and which is provided at a tip of a monitoring device to indirectly monitor a thickness of a film on the subject piece, and measuring a reflection light which is the application light is reflected near the monitoring section, while the light and the reflection light are isolated from an atmosphere and a substance in the chamber, measuring an amount of a substance on the monitoring section based on the reflection light, determining a thickness of a film on the subject piece based on the substance, and conducting the processing while controlling the processing based on the thickness of the film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2006
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Akihito Yamamoto, Takashi Nakao, Yuuichi Mikata, Yoshitaka Tsunashima
  • Publication number: 20060226557
    Abstract: A semiconductor substrate includes a denuded zone that is formed on a surface where a semiconductor device is to be formed, and an oxygen precipitate layer that is formed on at least a part of a surface, which is opposite to the surface where the semiconductor device is to be formed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2005
    Publication date: October 12, 2006
    Inventor: Akihito Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 7065469
    Abstract: A manufacturing apparatus which includes a rotary machine, includes: a plurality of accelerometers configured to measure diagnosis time series data attached to the rotary machine at locations where variations of the rotary machine are different; a frequency analysis device configured to perform a frequency analysis on the diagnosis time series data measured by the plurality of accelerometers; a time series data recording module configured to generate diagnosis data based on variations in characteristics of vibration corresponding to an analysis target frequency and to record the diagnosis data; and a life prediction unit configured to analyze the diagnosis data to determine a life span of the rotary machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2006
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Shuichi Samata, Takeo Furuhata, Yukihiro Ushiku, Akihito Yamamoto, Takashi Nakao
  • Publication number: 20060046441
    Abstract: According to the present invention, there is provided a selectivity monitoring method in a selective film growth method of selectively growing a film in a predetermined region on a semiconductor substrate, comprising: selectively growing the film on a surface of the semiconductor substrate while measuring temperature of the surface of the semiconductor substrate by at least one pyrometer placed in a non-contact state above the surface of the semiconductor substrate; and determining that selectivity of the growth of the film has decreased, when the temperature changes from a predetermined value or changes from a predetermined angle in a graph showing change of the temperature during film formation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2005
    Publication date: March 2, 2006
    Inventors: Kiyotaka Miyano, Akihito Yamamoto, Yoshihiko Saito
  • Patent number: 6992020
    Abstract: A semiconductor device of this invention includes a silicon nitride film formed on a semiconductor substrate and having a density of 2.2 g/cm3 or less, and a silicon oxide film formed on the silicon nitride film in an ambient atmosphere containing TEOS and O3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2006
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Susumu Hiyama, Akihito Yamamoto, Hiroshi Akahori, Shigehiko Saida
  • Patent number: 6989281
    Abstract: A cleaning method for a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus includes a process of forming a film on a subject piece in a processing chamber, applying light having a predetermined wavelength to a monitoring section to indirectly monitor a thickness of a film formed on the subject piece, introducing cleaning gas capable of removing a substance deposited on the monitoring section into the processing chamber, measuring a reflection light which is the application light reflected near the monitoring section, measuring an amount of a substance corresponding to a thickness of a film deposited on the monitoring section based on a measurement result of the reflection light; and introducing, into the processing chamber, a cleaning gas which can remove the substance on the monitoring section until a measurement value of the amount of the substance on the monitoring section becomes zero.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2006
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Akihito Yamamoto, Takashi Nakao, Yuuichi Mikata, Yoshitaka Tsunashima
  • Publication number: 20060008583
    Abstract: A cleaning method for use in an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: measuring components and concentration of each component of gas in a process chamber of an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, or selected from a group including gas in the chamber, a process gas in a gas inlet pipe, and gas in a gas outlet pipe; performing a prescribed process on a substrate in the chamber, while adjusting the components and the concentration of each component of the process gas, and of an atmosphere in the chamber, on the basis of the values measured, and taking the substrate from the chamber after the process is subjected; and generating and applying a cleaning gas on the basis of the values measured, the cleaning gas having such components and such concentration as to remove residues.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2005
    Publication date: January 12, 2006
    Inventors: Takashi Shimizu, Akihito Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20050284575
    Abstract: A processing system of the present invention includes: a reaction container in which a substrate to be processed is placed, a process-gas supplying mechanism that supplies a process gas into the reaction container at a process to the substrate, a cleaning-gas supplying mechanism that supplies a corrosive cleaning gas into the reaction container at a cleaning process, a gas-discharging-way member connected to the reaction chamber, a heating unit that heats a specific portion of the reaction container and the gas-discharging-way member, a temperature detecting unit that detects a temperature of the specific portion, a temperature controlling unit that controls the heating unit based on a detection value detected by the temperature detecting unit in such a manner that the specific portion becomes to a predetermined target temperature, and a temperature changing unit that changes the target temperature between at the process to the substrate and at the cleaning process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2005
    Publication date: December 29, 2005
    Inventors: Kazuhide Hasebe, Atsushi Endo, Mitsuhiro Okada, Jun Ogawa, Akihito Yamamoto, Takashi Nakao, Masaki Kamimura, Yukihiro Ushiku
  • Patent number: 6946304
    Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising a process chamber which holds a substrate to be subjected to a prescribed process, a gas inlet pipe which introduces a process gas into the process chamber, a gas outlet pipe which discharges the gas from the process chamber to outside the process chamber, component-measuring devices which measure components of the gas in the process chamber or at least two different gases, concentration-measuring devices which measure concentration of each component of the gas in the process chamber, or the concentration of each component of at least two different gases, and a control device which adjusts the components of the process gas, the concentration of each component of the process gas and an atmosphere in the process chamber, on the basis of values measured by the composition-measuring device and concentration-measuring device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2005
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Takashi Shimizu, Akihito Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20050152691
    Abstract: A shutter apparatus according to the present invention includes a base member having an opening with a predetermined diameter and first and second blades, which are placed on a blade support surface of the base member and can open and close the opening, wherein the first blade can open and close the opening by rotating on the blade support surface, and the second blade can open and close the opening by having a predetermined gap above the first blade so as to be arranged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2004
    Publication date: July 14, 2005
    Inventors: Takahiro Kawauchi, Akihito Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6898551
    Abstract: A system for predicting life of a rotary machine, includes a vibration gauge configured to measure time series data of a peak acceleration of the rotary machine; a band pass filter configured to filter an analog signal of the time series data of the peak acceleration measured by the vibration gauge in a frequency band including a first analysis frequency expressed as a product of an equation including a number of rotor blades of the rotary machine and a normal frequency unique to the rotary machine; and a data processing unit configured to predict a life span of the rotary machine by characteristics of the filtered analog data of the time series data of the peak acceleration with the first analysis frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2005
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Shuichi Samata, Yukihiro Ushiku, Akihito Yamamoto, Takashi Nakao, Takeo Furuhata
  • Publication number: 20050059203
    Abstract: A cleaning method for a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus includes a process of forming a film on a subject piece in a processing chamber, applying light having a predetermined wavelength to a monitoring section to indirectly monitor a thickness of a film formed on the subject piece, introducing cleaning gas capable of removing a substance deposited on the monitoring section into the processing chamber, measuring a reflection light which is the application light reflected near the monitoring section, measuring an amount of a substance corresponding to a thickness of a film deposited on the monitoring section based on a measurement result of the reflection light; and introducing, into the processing chamber, a cleaning gas which can remove the substance on the monitoring section until a measurement value of the amount of the substance on the monitoring section becomes zero.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2004
    Publication date: March 17, 2005
    Inventors: Akihito Yamamoto, Takashi Nakao, Yuuichi Mikata, Yoshitaka Tsunashima
  • Publication number: 20050012171
    Abstract: A semiconductor device of this invention includes a silicon nitride film formed on a semiconductor substrate and having a density of 2.2 g/cm3 or less, and a silicon oxide film formed on the silicon nitride film in an ambient atmosphere containing TEOS and O3.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2004
    Publication date: January 20, 2005
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Susumu Hiyama, Akihito Yamamoto, Hiroshi Akahori, Shigehiko Saida
  • Patent number: 6841850
    Abstract: A semiconductor device of this invention includes a silicon nitride film formed on a semiconductor substrate and having a density of 2.2 g/cm3 or less, and a silicon oxide film formed on the silicon nitride film in an ambient atmosphere containing TEOS and O3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2005
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Susumu Hiyama, Akihito Yamamoto, Hiroshi Akahori, Shigehiko Saida
  • Patent number: 6772045
    Abstract: A system for determining dry cleaning timing, includes: a manufacturing apparatus configured to process materials assigned by a sequence of lots; an apparatus controller configured to control the manufacturing apparatus and obtaining operational conditions of the manufacturing apparatus as apparatus information; a lot information input terminal configured to obtain process conditions of one of the lots as lot information; an apparatus information storage unit configured to store the apparatus information from the apparatus controller as an apparatus information database; a lot information storage unit configured to store the lot information from the lot information input terminal as a lot information database; and a cleaning determination unit configured to determine timing to perform a dry cleaning of the manufacturing apparatus based on the apparatus information database and the lot information database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2004
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Shuji Katsui, Masayuki Tanaka, Masaki Kamimura, Hiroshi Akahori, Ichiro Mizushima, Takashi Nakao, Akihito Yamamoto, Shigehiko Saida, Yoshitaka Tsunashima, Yuuichi Mikata
  • Publication number: 20040064277
    Abstract: A manufacturing apparatus which includes a rotary machine, includes: a plurality of accelerometers configured to measure diagnosis time series data attached to the rotary machine at locations where variations of the rotary machine are different; a frequency analysis device configured to perform a frequency analysis on the diagnosis time series data measured by the plurality of accelerometers; a time series data recording module configured to generate diagnosis data based on variations in characteristics of vibration corresponding to an analysis target frequency and to record the diagnosis data; and a life prediction unit configured to analyze the diagnosis data to determine a life span of the rotary machine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2003
    Publication date: April 1, 2004
    Inventors: Shuichi Samata, Takeo Furuhata, Yukihiro Ushiku, Akihito Yamamoto, Takashi Nakao
  • Publication number: 20040064291
    Abstract: A system for predicting life of a rotary machine, includes a vibration gauge configured to measure time series data of a peak acceleration of the rotary machine; a band pass filter configured to filter an analog signal of the time series data of the peak acceleration measured by the vibration gauge in a frequency band including a first analysis frequency expressed as a product of an equation including a number of rotor blades of the rotary machine and a normal frequency unique to the rotary machine; and a data processing unit configured to predict a life span of the rotary machine by characteristics of the filtered analog data of the time series data of the peak acceleration with the first analysis frequency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2003
    Publication date: April 1, 2004
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Shuichi Samata, Yukihiro Ushiku, Akihito Yamamoto, Takashi Nakao, Takeo Furuhata
  • Publication number: 20040007765
    Abstract: A semiconductor device of this invention includes a silicon nitride film formed on a semiconductor substrate and having a density of 2.2 g/cm3 or less, and a silicon oxide film formed on the silicon nitride film in an ambient atmosphere containing TEOS and O3.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2002
    Publication date: January 15, 2004
    Inventors: Susumu Hiyama, Akihito Yamamoto, Hiroshi Akahori, Shigehiko Saida