Abstract: The mapping sensor system of the invention is intended for use with a mechanical arm of an industrial robot which loads and unloads flat circular objects, such as semiconductor wafers, into and from wafer cassettes on operations of processing the semiconductor wafers in stand-alone or cluster machines used in semiconductor production. The mapping system consists of a light source, a light-receiving element, and a light beam shaper. The light source is installed on the front end of the robot arm and directs the light via the beam shaper to the leading edge of the semiconductor wafer. The beam reflected from the wafer edge is sensed by a light-receiving element, such as a photodiode. The shaper modifies the shape and the cross-section of the beam directed towards the wafer so as to provide reflection from the curvilinear surface of the edge, irrespective of the existence of the notch, most optimum for detection by the photodiodes and without generation of false signals.

Abstract: The system of the invention for measuring characteristics of thin conductive and non-conductive material, such as bulk material or films, is based on the use of a resonance oscillating circuit that incorporates at least two components selected from the group consisting of an inductive coil and a capacitor, which in combination form a sensor that could be approached close to the surface to be measured. The measurement of the film or material characteristics, such as film resistance (film thickness) or a dielectric constant (film thickness) of a non-conductive material, is based on the principle that the sensor is approached to the measured surface at a distance, at which the inductance and capacitance of the sensor generate in the measured material a virtual coil and an additional capacitance, which strongly depend on the characteristics of the measured material.

Abstract: An apparatus of the invention is intended for multiple identical continuous records of characteristics on the surface of an object, e.g., a semiconductor wafer, after selected stages of manufacture and treatment. The apparatus is provided with a rotary table for rotation of the wafer with a mechanism for installing the wafer in a predetermined initial position for starting measurements from the same point after each selected stage of manufacture or treatment. The measurements are synchronized for all sequential manufacturing stages of the wafer and are carried out with the use of a resonance sensor based on the principles of resonance sensor technology. The recorded information is stored on a memory device, and if the final product has a defect or deviations, the stored information can be easily retrieved for revealing the time, place on the product, and the source of the defect.

Abstract: The invention describes an apparatus for preventing gripping of objects having wrong dimensions or orientation. The apparatus comprises a part handler, e.g., a holder for parts to be treated in a chemical reactor, where the parts has to be transferred from a working position to a temporary storage. The holder may have different shapes, e.g., rectangular, elliptical, or circular, and is provided with positioning openings or recesses for engagement with pins or semispherical elements on the engaging surface of the part handler. The apparatus is provided with at least two through beam optical sensor units with adjustable divergence of the light beams emitted from the light emitting to the light-receiving element. The sensor units are located near the edge area of the holder.

Abstract: The system of the invention for measuring characteristics of thin conductive and non-conductive material, such as bulk material or films, is based on the use of a resonance oscillating circuit that incorporates at least two components selected from the group consisting of an inductive coil and a capacitor, which in combination form a sensor that could be approached close to the surface to be measured. The measurement of the film or material characteristics, such as film resistance (film thickness) or a dielectric constant (film thickness) of a non-conductive material, is based on the principle that the sensor is approached to the measured surface at a distance, at which the inductance and capacitance of the sensor generate in the measured material a virtual coil and an additional capacitance, which strongly depend on the characteristics of the measured material.

Abstract: The system and method are based on stabilization of the distance between the sensor coil and the surface of the film being measured by constantly measuring the angle of inclination &agr; of a tangent to the curve that represent dependence of the resonance power of the sensor-film system from the distance between the sensor and the film. The aforementioned angle is calculated plotting the resonance curve of a signal, calculating the area between the resonance curve and the abscissa axis, plotting the curve that represent dependence of the aforementioned area from the distance between the sensor coil and the film, measuring the angle &agr; in a preselected point on the last-mentioned curve, and maintaining the distance between the sensor coil and the film constant by keeping angle &agr; constant in a any measurement point. Angle &agr; can be selected within the range of 0 to 90° C.

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus and method for measuring thickness and deviations from the thickness of very thin conductive coatings on various non-conductive substrates, or of very thin non-conductive coatings on conductive substrates. The apparatus consists of an inductive coil having specific parameters, an external AC generator operating on frequencies, e.g., from 50 MHz to 2.5 GHz, preferably from 100 MHz to 200 MHz, and a measuring instrument, such as an oscilloscope, voltmeter, etc. for measuring output of the sensor. The coil has miniature dimensions. The invention is based on the principle that inductive coil of the sensor, active resistance of the coil winding, inherent capacitance of the inductive coil (or a separate capacitor built into the sensor's circuit), and the aforementioned AC generator form a parallel oscillating circuit.

Abstract: A universal electromagnetic resonance system is aimed at detecting and measuring local non-uniformities in objects made from conductive or non-conductive materials. The system comprises a composite measuring unit composed of two identical and symmetrically arranged individual oscillation circuits with measurement elements in the form of identical and symmetrically arranged inductive coils or capacitor chips. The unit is connected to an impedance analyzer for supplying RF current and for measuring the voltage signal in the oscillation circuit. Since all the elements of individual oscillation circuits are identical, in the case of non-uniformity of the object on the scanned area, the parameters of the resonance will hanged. This change will violate the symmetry in the operation of the individual oscillation circuits. The variation in measured signal can be calibrated in terms of the target parameter or characteristic of the object.

Abstract: An apparatus for measuring thickness in super-thin films consists of a special resonator unit in the form of an open-bottom cylinder which is connected to a microwave swept frequency microwave source via a decoupler and a matching unit installed in a waveguide that connects the resonator unit with the microwave source. The apparatus operates on the principle that thin metal film F, the thickness of which is to be measured, does not contact the end face of the open bottom of the cylindrical resonator sensor unit and functions as a bottom of the cylindrical body. The design of the resonator excludes generation of modes other than the resonance mode and provides the highest possible Q-factor. As the conductivity directly related to the film thickness, it is understood that measurement of the film thickness is reduced to measurement of the resonance peak amplitudes.

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus and method for measuring thickness and deviations from the thickness of very thin conductive coatings on various non-conductive substrates, or of very thin non-conductive coatings on conductive substrates. The apparatus consists of an inductive coil having specific parameters, an external AC generator operating on frequencies, e.g., from 50 MHz to 2.5 GHz, preferably from 100 MHz to 200 MHz, and a measuring instrument, such as an oscilloscope, voltmeter, etc. for measuring output of the sensor. The coil has miniature dimensions. The invention is based on the principle that inductive coil of the sensor, active resistance of the coil winding, inherent capacitance of the inductive coil (or a separate capacitor built into the sensor's circuit), and the aforementioned AC generator form a parallel oscillating circuit.

Abstract: A universal electromagnetic resonance system is aimed at detecting and measuring local non-uniformities in objects made from conductive or non-conductive materials. The system comprises a composite measuring unit composed of two identical and symmetrically arranged individual oscillation circuits with measurement elements in the form of identical and symmetrically arranged inductive coils or capacitor chips. The unit is connected to an impedance analyzer for supplying RF current and for measuring the voltage signal in the oscillation circuit. Since all the elements of individual oscillation circuits are identical, in the case of non-uniformity of the object on the scanned area, the parameters of the resonance will hanged. This change will violate the symmetry in the operation of the individual oscillation circuits. The variation in measured signal can be calibrated in terms of the target parameter or characteristic of the object.

Abstract: An apparatus of the invention is intended for multiple identical continuous records of characteristics on the surface of an object, e.g., a semiconductor wafer, after selected stages of manufacture and treatment. The apparatus is provided with a rotary table for rotation of the wafer with a mechanism for installing the wafer in a predetermined initial position for starting measurements from the same point after each selected stage of manufacture or treatment. The measurements are synchronized for all sequential manufacturing stages of the wafer and are carried out with the use of a resonance sensor based on the principles of resonance sensor technology. The recorded information is stored on a memory device, and if the final product has a defect or deviations, the stored information can be easily retrieved for revealing the time, place on the product, and the source of the defect.

Abstract: A soft-touch gripping mechanism of the invention contains three gripping fingers arranged circumferentially around a circular flat object such as, e.g., a semiconductor wafer. The soft-tough force applied to the wafer from the gripping posts on the ends of the gripping fingers is controlled from a common force measurement sensor, e.g., a special position sensor that consists of a moveable magnetic flag attached to a pusher plate on the end of the output shaft of a linear stepper motor and a sensitive member, e.g. a Hall sensor chip that responds to the position of the magnetic flag. The Hall sensor produces an output voltage signal that is proportion to the position of the flag relative to the Hall sensor chip. The sensor is connected to a controller that also controls operation of the aforementioned linear stepper motor. The soft touch is achieved by transmitting the movement of the pusher to the linear fingers through a spring.

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for measuring thickness and deviations from the thickness of thin conductive coatings on various substrates, e.g., metal coating films in semiconductor wafer or hard drive disks. The thickness films may be as small as fractions of microns. The apparatus consists of an inductive sensor and a proximity sensor, which are rigidly interconnected though a piezo-actuator used for displacements of the inductive sensor with respect to the surface of the object being measured. Based on the results of the operation of the proximity sensor, the inductive sensor is maintained at a constant distance from the controlled surface. Variations in the thickness of the coating film and in the distance between the inductive sensor and the coating film change the current in the inductive coil of the sensor.

Abstract: A precision soft-touch gripping mechanism has a mounting plate attached to a robot arm. The plate supports a stepper motor. The output shaft of the stepper motor is connected through a spring to an elongated finger that slides in a central longitudinal slot of the plate and supports a first wafer gripping post, while on the end opposite to the first wafer gripping post the mounting plate pivotally supports two L-shaped fingers with a second and third wafer gripping posts on their respective ends. The mounting plate in combination with the first sliding finger and two pivotal fingers forms the end effector of the robot arm which is thin enough for insertion into a wafer-holding slot of a wafer cassette. The end effector is equipped with a mapping sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the preceding wafer, wafer position sensors for determining positions of the wafer with respect to the end effector, and force sensors for controlling the wafer gripping force.

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for measuring thickness and deviations from the thickness of thin conductive coatings on various substrates, e.g., metal coating films in semiconductor wafer or hard drive disks. The thickness films may be as small as fractions of microns. The apparatus consists of an inductive sensor and a proximity sensor, which are rigidly interconnected though a piezo-actuator used for displacements of the inductive sensor with respect to the surface of the object being measured. Based on the results of the operation of the proximity sensor, the inductive sensor is maintained at a constant distance from the controlled surface. Variations in the thickness of the coating film and in the distance between the inductive sensor and the coating film change the current in the inductive coil of the sensor.

Abstract: The mapping sensor system of the invention is intended for use with a mechanical arm of an industrial robot which loads and unloads flat circular objects, such as semiconductor wafers, into and from wafer cassettes on operations of processing the semiconductor wafers in stand-alone or cluster machines used in semiconductor production. The mapping system consists of a light source, a light-receiving element, and a light beam shaper. The light source is installed on the front end of the robot arm and directs the light via the beam shaper to the leading edge of the semiconductor wafer. The beam reflected from the wafer edge is sensed by a light-receiving element, such as a photodiode. The shaper modifies the shape and the cross-section of the beam directed towards the wafer so as to provide reflection from the curvilinear surface of the edge, irrespective of the existence of the notch, most optimum for detection by the photodiodes and without generation of false signals.

Abstract: The invention describes an apparatus for preventing gripping of objects having wrong dimensions or orientation. The apparatus comprises a part handler, e.g., a holder for parts to be treated in a chemical reactor, where the parts has to be transferred from a working position to a temporary storage. The holder may have different shapes, e.g., rectangular, elliptical, or circular, and is provided with positioning openings or recesses for engagement with pins or semispherical elements on the engaging surface of the part handler. The apparatus is provided with at least two through beam optical sensor units with adjustable divergence of the light beams emitted from the light emitting to the light-receiving element. The sensor units are located near the edge area of the holder.