Patents by Inventor John D. Pollock

John D. Pollock 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: 10718052
    Abstract: A rotating disk reactor for chemical vapor deposition includes a vacuum chamber and a ferrofluid feedthrough comprising an upper and a lower ferrofluid seal that passes a motor shaft into the vacuum chamber. A motor is coupled to the motor shaft and is positioned in an atmospheric region between the upper and the lower ferrofluid seal. A turntable is positioned in the vacuum chamber and is coupled to the motor shaft so that the motor rotates the turntable at a desired rotation rate. A dielectric support is coupled to the turntable so that the turntable rotates the dielectric support when driven by the shaft. A substrate carrier is positioned on the dielectric support in the vacuum chamber for chemical vapor deposition processing. A heater is positioned proximate to the substrate carrier that controls the temperature of the substrate carrier to a desired temperature for chemical vapor deposition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: Veeco Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Louise S. Barriss, Richard A. Comunale, Roger P. Fremgen, Alexander I. Gurary, Todd A. Luse, Robert White Milgate, John D. Pollock
  • Publication number: 20170096734
    Abstract: A rotating disk reactor for chemical vapor deposition includes a vacuum chamber and a ferrofluid feedthrough comprising an upper and a lower ferrofluid seal that passes a motor shaft into the vacuum chamber. A motor is coupled to the motor shaft and is positioned in an atmospheric region between the upper and the lower ferrofluid seal. A turntable is positioned in the vacuum chamber and is coupled to the motor shall so that the motor rotates the turntable at a desired rotation rate. A dielectric support is coupled to the turntable so that the turntable rotates the dielectric support when driven by the shaft. A substrate carrier is positioned on the dielectric support in the vacuum chamber for chemical vapor deposition processing. A heater is positioned proximate to the substrate carrier that controls the temperature of the substrate carrier to a desired temperature for chemical vapor deposition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2016
    Publication date: April 6, 2017
    Applicant: Veeco Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Louise S. Barriss, Richard A. Comunale, Roger P. Fremgen, Alexander I. Gurary, Todd A. Luse, Robert White Milgate, John D. Pollock
  • Patent number: 9057129
    Abstract: A variable aperture within an aperture device is used to shape the ion beam before the substrate is implanted by shaped ion beam, especially to finally shape the ion beam in a position right in front of the substrate. Hence, different portions of a substrate, or different substrates, can be implanted respectively by different shaped ion beams without going through using multiple fixed apertures or retuning the ion beam each time. In other words, different implantations may be achieved respectively by customized ion beams without high cost (use multiple fixed aperture devices) and complex operation (retuning the ion beam each time). Moreover, the beam tune process for acquiring a specific ion beam to be implanted may be accelerated, to be faster than using multiple fixed aperture(s) and/or retuning the ion beam each time, because the adjustment of the variable aperture may be achieved simply by mechanical operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: Advanced Ion Beam Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhimin Wan, John D. Pollock, Donald Wayne Berrian, Causon Ko-Chuan Jen
  • Patent number: 8987691
    Abstract: An ion implanter and an ion implant method are disclosed. Essentially, the wafer is moved along one direction and an aperture mechanism having an aperture is moved along another direction, so that the projected area of an ion beam filtered by the aperture is two-dimensionally scanned over the wafer. Thus, the required hardware and/or operation to move the wafer may be simplified. Further, when a ribbon ion beam is provided, the shape/size of the aperture may be similar to the size/shape of a traditional spot beam, so that a traditional two-dimensional scan may be achieved. Optionally, the ion beam path may be fixed without scanning the ion beam when the ion beam is to be implanted into the wafer, also the area of the aperture may be adjustable during a period of moving the aperture across the ion beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Advanced Ion Beam Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhimin Wan, John D. Pollock, Don Berrian
  • Publication number: 20150075431
    Abstract: A rotating disk reactor for chemical vapor deposition includes a vacuum chamber and a ferrofluid feedthrough comprising an upper and a lower ferrofluid seal that passes a motor shaft into the vacuum chamber. A motor is coupled to the motor shaft and is positioned in an atmospheric region between the upper and the lower ferrofluid seal. A turntable is positioned in the vacuum chamber and is coupled to the motor shaft so that the motor rotates the turntable at a desired rotation rate. A dielectric support is coupled to the turntable so that the turntable rotates the dielectric support when driven by the shaft. A substrate carrier is positioned on the dielectric support in the vacuum chamber for chemical vapor deposition processing. A heater is positioned proximate to the substrate carrier that controls the temperature of the substrate carrier to a desired temperature for chemical vapor deposition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2013
    Publication date: March 19, 2015
    Applicant: VEECO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Louise S. Barriss, Richard A. Comunale, Roger P. Fremgen, Alexander I. Gurary, Todd A. Luse, Robert White Milgate, III, John D. Pollock
  • Publication number: 20140161987
    Abstract: A variable aperture within an aperture device is used to shape the ion beam before the substrate is implanted by shaped ion beam, especially to finally shape the ion beam in a position right in front of the substrate. Hence, different portions of a substrate, or different substrates, can be implanted respectively by different shaped ion beams without going through using multiple fixed apertures or retuning the ion beam each time. In other words, different implantations may be achieved respectively by customized ion beams without high cost (use multiple fixed aperture devices) and complex operation (retuning the ion beam each time). Moreover, the beam tune process for acquiring a specific ion beam to be implanted may be accelerated, to be faster than using multiple fixed aperture(s) and/or retuning the ion beam each time, because the adjustment of the variable aperture may be achieved simply by mechanical operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 18, 2014
    Publication date: June 12, 2014
    Applicant: ADVANCED ION BEAM TECHNOLOGY., INC.
    Inventors: ZHIMIN WAN, JOHN D. POLLOCK, DONALD WAYNE BERRIAN, CAUSON KO-CHUAN JEN
  • Patent number: 8669539
    Abstract: A variable aperture within an aperture device is used to shape the ion beam before the substrate is implanted by shaped ion beam, especially to finally shape the ion beam in a position right in front of the substrate. Hence, different portions of a substrate, or different substrates, can be implanted respectively by different shaped ion beams without going through using multiple fixed apertures or retuning the ion beam each time. In other words, different implantations may be achieved respectively by customized ion beams without high cost (use multiple fixed aperture devices) and complex operation (retuning the ion beam each time). Moreover, the beam tune process for acquiring a specific ion beam to be implanted may be accelerated, to be faster than using multiple fixed aperture(s) and/or retuning the ion beam each time, because the adjustment of the variable aperture may be achieved simply by mechanical operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2014
    Assignee: Advanced Ion Beam Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhimin Wan, John D. Pollock, Don Berrian, Causon Ko-Chuan Jen
  • Patent number: 8304330
    Abstract: Techniques for low temperature ion implantation are provided to improve the throughput. During a low temperature ion implantation, an implant process may be started before the substrate temperature is decreased to be about to a prescribed implant temperature by a cooling process, and a heating process may be started to increase the substrate temperature before the implant process is finished. Moreover, one or more temperature adjust process may be performed during one or more portion of the implant process, such that the substrate temperature may be controllably higher than the prescribe implant temperature during the implant process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: Advanced Ion Beam Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: John D. Pollock, Zhimin Wan, Erik Collart
  • Publication number: 20120115318
    Abstract: Techniques for low temperature ion implantation are provided to improve the throughput. During a low temperature ion implantation, an implant process may be started before the substrate temperature is decreased to be about to a prescribed implant temperature by a cooling process, and a heating process may be started to increase the substrate temperature before the implant process is finished. Moreover, one or more temperature adjust process may be performed during one or more portion of the implant process, such that the substrate temperature may be controllably higher than the prescribe implant temperature during the implant process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 17, 2012
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Applicant: ADVANCED ION BEAM TECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventors: JOHN D. POLLOCK, ZHIMIN WAN, ERIK COLLART
  • Patent number: 8124508
    Abstract: Techniques for low temperature ion implantation are provided to improve the throughput. During a low temperature ion implantation, an implant process may be started before the substrate temperature is decreased to be about to a prescribed implant temperature by a cooling process, and a heating process may be started to increase the substrate temperature before the implant process is finished. Moreover, one or more temperature adjust process may be performed during one or more portion of the implant process, such that the substrate temperature may be controllably higher than the prescribe implant temperature during the implant process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2012
    Assignee: Advanced Ion Beam Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: John D. Pollock, Zhimin Wan, Erik Collart
  • Patent number: 8039374
    Abstract: Techniques for low temperature ion implantation are provided to improve throughput. Specifically, the pressure of the backside gas may temporarily, continually or continuously increase before the starting of the implant process, such that the wafer may be quickly cooled down from room temperature to be essentially equal to the prescribed implant temperature. Further, after the vacuum venting process, the wafer may wait an extra time in the load lock chamber before the wafer is moved out the ion implanter, in order to allow the wafer temperature to reach a higher temperature quickly for minimizing water condensation on the wafer surface. Furthermore, to accurately monitor the wafer temperature during a period of changing wafer temperature, a non-contact type temperature measuring device may be used to monitor wafer temperature in a real time manner with minimized condensation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Advanced Ion Beam Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: John D. Pollock, Zhimin Wan, Erik Collart
  • Publication number: 20110244669
    Abstract: Techniques for low temperature ion implantation are provided to improve the throughput. During a low temperature ion implantation, an implant process may be started before the substrate temperature is decreased to be about to a prescribed implant temperature by a cooling process, and a heating process may be started to increase the substrate temperature before the implant process is finished. Moreover, one or more temperature adjust process may be performed during one or more portion of the implant process, such that the substrate temperature may be controllably higher than the prescribe implant temperature during the implant process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2010
    Publication date: October 6, 2011
    Applicant: ADVANCED ION BEAM TECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventors: JOHN D. POLLOCK, ZHIMIN WAN, ERIK COLLART
  • Publication number: 20110233431
    Abstract: A variable aperture within an aperture device is used to shape the ion beam before the substrate is implanted by shaped ion beam, especially to finally shape the ion beam in a position right in front of the substrate. Hence, different portions of a substrate, or different substrates, can be implanted respectively by different shaped ion beams without going through using multiple fixed apertures or retuning the ion beam each time. In other words, different implantations may be achieved respectively by customized ion beams without high cost (use multiple fixed aperture devices) and complex operation (retuning the ion beam each time). Moreover, the beam tune process for acquiring a specific ion beam to be implanted may be accelerated, to be faster than using multiple fixed aperture(s) and/or retuning the ion beam each time, because the adjustment of the variable aperture may be achieved simply by mechanical operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2010
    Publication date: September 29, 2011
    Inventors: Zhimin WAN, John D. Pollock, Don Berrian, Causon Ko-Chuan Jen
  • Publication number: 20110229987
    Abstract: Techniques for low temperature ion implantation are provided to improve throughput. Specifically, the pressure of the backside gas may temporarily, continually or continuously increase before the starting of the implant process, such that the wafer may be quickly cooled down from room temperature to be essentially equal to the prescribed implant temperature. Further, after the vacuum venting process, the wafer may wait an extra time in the load lock chamber before the wafer is moved out the ion implanter, in order to allow the wafer temperature to reach a higher temperature quickly for minimizing water condensation on the wafer surface. Furthermore, to accurately monitor the wafer temperature during a period of changing wafer temperature, a non-contact type temperature measuring device may be used to monitor wafer temperature in a real time manner with minimized condensation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2010
    Publication date: September 22, 2011
    Applicant: ADVANCED ION BEAM TECHNOLOGY INC.
    Inventors: JOHN D. POLLOCK, ZHIMIN WAN, ERIK COLLART
  • Publication number: 20110049383
    Abstract: An ion implanter and an ion implant method for achieving a two-dimensional implantation on a wafer are disclosed. The ion implanter includes an ion source, a mass analyzer, a wafer driving mechanism, an aperture mechanism, and an aperture driving mechanism. The ion source and the mass analyzer are capable of providing an ion beam. The wafer driving mechanism is configured to drive a wafer along only a first direction. The aperture mechanism has an aperture for filtering the ion beam before the wafer is implanted. The aperture driving mechanism is configured to drive the aperture along a second direction intersecting the first direction. By moving the wafer and the aperture along different directions separately, the projection of the ion beam can achieve a two-dimensional implantation on the wafer. Here, at least one of the directions is optionally parallel to the longer dimension of the two-dimensional cross-section of the ion beam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2009
    Publication date: March 3, 2011
    Applicant: ADVANCED ION BEAM TECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventors: ZHIMIN WAN, JOHN D. POLLOCK, DON BERRIAN
  • Publication number: 20100181501
    Abstract: An ion implanter that comprises a chuck assembly having a chuck to clamp, hold, and cool a wafer is disclosed. The chuck is cooled by a cooling assembly circulated with a special coolant, such that the chuck can be maintained at very low temperatures. A mechanical design is provided to minimize the direct surface-to-surface contact area between the chuck and a base, which is employed to support the chuck. The mechanical design includes fasteners for providing mechanical support between the chuck and the base and thermal insulators for providing thermal insulation between the chuck and the base.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2009
    Publication date: July 22, 2010
    Inventor: John D. Pollock
  • Patent number: 7381977
    Abstract: A system, method, and apparatus for determining a profile of an ion beam are provided. The apparatus comprises a measuring device positioned along a path of the ion beam, a drive mechanism, and a first plate rotatably coupled to the drive mechanism. The drive mechanism is operable to rotate the first plate about a first axis through a path of the ion beam, therein selectively blocking the ion beam from reaching the measuring device. The apparatus may comprise a second plate further rotatably coupled to the drive mechanism, wherein the drive mechanism is operable to rotate the second plate about the first axis through the path of the ion beam independently from the rotation of the first plate, therein further selectively blocking the ion beam from reaching the measuring device. The drive mechanism may further linearly translate first plate and/or second plate through the ion beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: Axcelis Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: John D. Pollock, John W. Vanderpot, Donald W. Berrian
  • Patent number: 7323695
    Abstract: A reciprocating drive system, method, and apparatus for scanning a workpiece are provided, wherein a motor comprising a rotor and stator operable to individually rotate about a first axis is operable to reciprocally translate the workpiece with respect to a stationary reference. A shaft rotatably driven by the rotor extends along the first axis, and a scan arm is operably coupled to the shaft, wherein the scan arm is operable to support the workpiece thereon. Cyclical counter rotations of the shaft by the motor are operable to rotate the scan arm, therein scanning the workpiece through the ion beam along a first scan path, wherein the stator acts as a reaction mass to the rotation of the rotor. A controller is further operable to control an electromagnetic force between the rotor and the stator, therein generally determining a rotational position of the rotor and the stator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2008
    Assignee: Axcelis Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: John W. Vanderpot, John D. Pollock, Donald W. Berrian
  • Patent number: 7141809
    Abstract: A method for reciprocally transporting a workpiece on a scan arm through an ion beam is provided, wherein the scan arm is operably coupled to a motor comprising a rotor and stator that are individually rotatable about a first axis. An electromagnetic force applied between the rotor and stator rotates the rotor about the first axis and translates the workpiece through the ion beam along a first scan path. A position of the workpiece is sensed and the electromagnetic force between the rotor and stator is controlled in order to reverse the direction of motion of the workpiece along the first scan path, and wherein the control is based, at least in part, on the sensed position of the workpiece. The stator further rotates about the first axis in reaction to the rotation of the rotor, particularly in the reversal of direction of motion of the workpiece, thus acting as a reaction mass to the rotation of one or more of the rotor, scan arm, and workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2006
    Assignee: Axcelis Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: John W. Vanderpot, John D. Pollock, Donald W. Berrian
  • Patent number: 7135691
    Abstract: A reciprocating drive system and apparatus for scanning a workpiece through an ion beam are provided, wherein a motor comprising a rotor and stator operable to individually rotate about a first axis is operable to reciprocally translate the workpiece with respect to the ion beam. A shaft rotatably driven by the rotor extends along the first axis, and a scan arm is operably coupled to the shaft, wherein the scan arm is operable to support the workpiece thereon. Cyclical counter rotations of the shaft by the motor are operable to rotate the scan arm, therein scanning the workpiece through the ion beam along a first scan path, wherein the stator acts as a reaction mass to the rotation of the rotor. A controller is further operable to control an electromagnetic force between the rotor and the stator, therein generally determining a rotational position of the rotor and the stator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2006
    Assignee: Axcelis Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: John W. Vanderpot, John D. Pollock, Donald W. Berrian