Patents by Inventor Douglas G. Sutherland

Douglas G. Sutherland 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: 10761128
    Abstract: Methods and systems for inline parts average testing and latent reliability defect recognition or detection are disclosed. An inline parts average testing method may include: performing inline inspection and metrology on a plurality of wafers at a plurality of critical steps during wafer fabrication; aggregating inspection results obtained from inline inspection and metrology utilizing one or more processors to obtain a plurality of aggregated inspection results for the plurality of wafers; identifying one or more statistical outliers among the plurality of wafers at least partially based on the plurality of aggregated inspection results obtained for the plurality of wafers; and disqualifying the one or more statistical outliers from entering a supply chain for a downstream manufacturing process, or segregating the one or more statistical outliers for further evaluation, testing or repurposing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: KLA-Tencor Corporation
    Inventors: David W. Price, Robert J. Rathert, Robert Cappel, Kara L. Sherman, Douglas G. Sutherland
  • Publication number: 20180275189
    Abstract: Methods and systems for inline parts average testing and latent reliability defect recognition or detection are disclosed. An inline parts average testing method may include: performing inline inspection and metrology on a plurality of wafers at a plurality of critical steps during wafer fabrication; aggregating inspection results obtained from inline inspection and metrology utilizing one or more processors to obtain a plurality of aggregated inspection results for the plurality of wafers; identifying one or more statistical outliers among the plurality of wafers at least partially based on the plurality of aggregated inspection results obtained for the plurality of wafers; and disqualifying the one or more statistical outliers from entering a supply chain for a downstream manufacturing process, or segregating the one or more statistical outliers for further evaluation, testing or repurposing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2017
    Publication date: September 27, 2018
    Inventors: David W. Price, Robert J. Rathert, Robert Cappel, Kara L. Sherman, Douglas G. Sutherland