Patents by Inventor Che-Liang Li

Che-Liang Li 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: 11774241
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to methods for measuring a characteristic of a substrate. In an embodiment, the method includes scanning over the substrate with a scanning probe microscope, the substrate having fins thereon, the scanning obtaining images showing respective fin top regions of the fins, the scanning probe microscope interacting with respective portions of sidewalls of the fins by a scanning probe oscillated during the scanning, selecting images obtained at a predetermined depth below the fin top regions to obtain a line edge profile of the fins, by a processor-based system, analyzing the line edge profile of the fins using power spectral density (PSD) method to obtain spatial frequency data of the line edge profile of the fins, and by the processor-based system, calculating line edge roughness of the fins based on the spatial frequency data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Wei-Shan Hu, Dong Gui, Jang Jung Lee, Che-Liang Li, Duen-Huei Hou, Wen-Chung Liu
  • Publication number: 20220107179
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to methods for measuring a characteristic of a substrate. In an embodiment, the method includes scanning over the substrate with a scanning probe microscope, the substrate having fins thereon, the scanning obtaining images showing respective fin top regions of the fins, the scanning probe microscope interacting with respective portions of sidewalls of the fins by a scanning probe oscillated during the scanning, selecting images obtained at a predetermined depth below the fin top regions to obtain a line edge profile of the fins, by a processor-based system, analyzing the line edge profile of the fins using power spectral density (PSD) method to obtain spatial frequency data of the line edge profile of the fins, and by the processor-based system, calculating line edge roughness of the fins based on the spatial frequency data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2021
    Publication date: April 7, 2022
    Inventors: Wei-Shan HU, Dong GUI, Jang Jung LEE, Che-Liang LI, Duen-Huei HOU, Wen-Chung LIU
  • Patent number: 11236996
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to methods for measuring a characteristic of a substrate. In an embodiment, the method includes scanning over the substrate with a scanning probe microscope, the substrate having fins thereon, the scanning obtaining images showing respective fin top regions of the fins, the scanning probe microscope interacting with respective portions of sidewalls of the fins by a scanning probe oscillated during the scanning, selecting images obtained at a predetermined depth below the fin top regions to obtain a line edge profile of the fins, by a processor-based system, analyzing the line edge profile of the fins using power spectral density (PSD) method to obtain spatial frequency data of the line edge profile of the fins, and by the processor-based system, calculating line edge roughness of the fins based on the spatial frequency data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Wei-Shan Hu, Dong Gui, Jang Jung Lee, Che-Liang Li, Duen-Huei Hou, Wen-Chung Liu
  • Publication number: 20200340807
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to methods for measuring a characteristic of a substrate. In an embodiment, the method includes scanning over the substrate with a scanning probe microscope, the substrate having fins thereon, the scanning obtaining images showing respective fin top regions of the fins, the scanning probe microscope interacting with respective portions of sidewalls of the fins by a scanning probe oscillated during the scanning, selecting images obtained at a predetermined depth below the fin top regions to obtain a line edge profile of the fins, by a processor-based system, analyzing the line edge profile of the fins using power spectral density (PSD) method to obtain spatial frequency data of the line edge profile of the fins, and by the processor-based system, calculating line edge roughness of the fins based on the spatial frequency data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Publication date: October 29, 2020
    Inventors: Wei-Shan HU, Dong GUI, Jang Jung LEE, Che-Liang LI, Duen-Huei HOU, Wen-Chung LIU
  • Patent number: 10746542
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to methods for measuring a characteristic of a substrate. In an embodiment, the method includes scanning over the substrate with a scanning probe microscope, the substrate having fins thereon, the scanning obtaining images showing respective fin top regions of the fins, the scanning probe microscope interacting with respective portions of sidewalls of the fins by a scanning probe oscillated during the scanning, selecting images obtained at a predetermined depth below the fin top regions to obtain a line edge profile of the fins, by a processor-based system, analyzing the line edge profile of the fins using power spectral density (PSD) method to obtain spatial frequency data of the line edge profile of the fins, and by the processor-based system, calculating line edge roughness of the fins based on the spatial frequency data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Wei-Shan Hu, Dong Gui, Jang Jung Lee, Che-Liang Li, Duen-Huei Hou, Wen-Chung Liu
  • Publication number: 20200096332
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to methods for measuring a characteristic of a substrate. In an embodiment, the method includes scanning over the substrate with a scanning probe microscope, the substrate having fins thereon, the scanning obtaining images showing respective fin top regions of the fins, the scanning probe microscope interacting with respective portions of sidewalls of the fins by a scanning probe oscillated during the scanning, selecting images obtained at a predetermined depth below the fin top regions to obtain a line edge profile of the fins, by a processor-based system, analyzing the line edge profile of the fins using power spectral density (PSD) method to obtain spatial frequency data of the line edge profile of the fins, and by the processor-based system, calculating line edge roughness of the fins based on the spatial frequency data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Publication date: March 26, 2020
    Inventors: Wei-Shan Hu, Dong Gui, Jang Jung Lee, Che-Liang Li, Duen-Huei Hou, Wen-Chung Liu