Patents by Inventor Mark E. Emerson

Mark E. Emerson 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).

  • Publication number: 20220364858
    Abstract: A substrate processing system includes a laser triangulation sensor configured to transmit and receive light through a window of an exterior wall of a substrate processing chamber. A controller is configured to: position the laser triangulation sensor such that the laser triangulation sensor transmits light onto a measurement feature arranged between a first surface of a substrate support and a second surface of a gas distribution device, where the second surface faces the first surface; and while the laser triangulation sensor transmits light onto the measurement feature, determine a first distance between the first and second surfaces based on a difference between: a second distance between the laser triangulation sensor and the first surface measured using the laser triangulation sensor; and a third distance between the laser triangulation sensor and the second surface measured using the laser triangulation sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2022
    Publication date: November 17, 2022
    Inventors: Mark E. EMERSON, Nick Ray LINEBARGER, JR.
  • Publication number: 20220254666
    Abstract: Systems and techniques for determining and using multiple types of offsets for providing wafers to a wafer support of a wafer station of a semiconductor processing tool are disclosed; such techniques and systems may use an autocalibration wafer that may include a plurality of sensors, including a plurality of edge-located imaging sensors that may be used to image fiducials associated with two different structures located in a selected wafer station.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2020
    Publication date: August 11, 2022
    Inventors: Hossein Sadeghi, Richard M. Blank, Peter S. Thaulad, Mark E. Emerson, Arulselvam Simon Jeyapalan, Marco Piccigallo
  • Patent number: 11408734
    Abstract: A substrate processing system includes a laser triangulation sensor configured to transmit and receive light through a window of an exterior wall of a substrate processing chamber. A controller is configured to: position the laser triangulation sensor such that the laser triangulation sensor transmits light onto a measurement feature arranged between a first surface of a substrate support and a second surface of a gas distribution device, where the second surface faces the first surface; and while the laser triangulation sensor transmits light onto the measurement feature, determine a first distance between the first and second surfaces based on a difference between: a second distance between the laser triangulation sensor and the first surface measured using the laser triangulation sensor; and a third distance between the laser triangulation sensor and the second surface measured using the laser triangulation sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mark E. Emerson, Nick Ray Linebarger, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20220134568
    Abstract: A robot calibration system includes a calibration fixture configured to be mounted on a substrate processing chamber. The calibration fixture includes at least one camera arranged to capture an image including an outer edge of a test substrate and an edge ring surrounding the test substrate. A controller is configured to receive the captured image, analyze the captured image to measure a distance between the outer edge of the test substrate and the edge ring, calculate a center of the test substrate based on the measured distance, and calibrate a robot configured to transfer substrate to and from the substrate processing chamber based on the calculated center of the test substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2020
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Inventors: Richard BLANK, Aravind ALWAN, Behnam BEHZIZ, Peter THAULAD, Mark E. EMERSON
  • Patent number: 10989747
    Abstract: A device for measuring electrical properties of electrical contacts within an electroplating apparatus has a disc-shaped structure like that of a wafer. Multiple conductive pads are formed to collectively circumscribe an outer periphery of the disc-shaped structure. Adjacently positioned ones of the conductive pads are electrically isolated from each other. The device includes a current source that supplies electric current at a first terminal and sinks electric current at a second terminal. The device includes measurement circuitry, having first and second input terminals, that determines a value of an electrical parameter based on signals present at the first and second input terminals. The device includes switching circuitry for connecting selected ones of the conductive pads to the first and second terminals of the current source and to the first and second input terminals of the measurement circuitry at a given time. The device also includes an onboard power supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Mark E. Emerson, Steven T. Mayer, Lawrence Ossowski
  • Publication number: 20200217657
    Abstract: A substrate processing system includes a laser triangulation sensor configured to transmit and receive light through a window of an exterior wall of a substrate processing chamber. A controller is configured to: position the laser triangulation sensor such that the laser triangulation sensor transmits light onto a measurement feature arranged between a first surface of a substrate support and a second surface of a gas distribution device, where the second surface faces the first surface; and while the laser triangulation sensor transmits light onto the measurement feature, determine a first distance between the first and second surfaces based on a difference between: a second distance between the laser triangulation sensor and the first surface measured using the laser triangulation sensor; and a third distance between the laser triangulation sensor and the second surface measured using the laser triangulation sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2019
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Inventors: Mark E. EMERSON, Nick Ray LINEBARGER, JR.
  • Publication number: 20200011914
    Abstract: A device for measuring electrical properties of electrical contacts within an electroplating apparatus has a disc-shaped structure like that of a wafer. Multiple conductive pads are formed to collectively circumscribe an outer periphery of the disc-shaped structure. Adjacently positioned ones of the conductive pads are electrically isolated from each other. The device includes a current source that supplies electric current at a first terminal and sinks electric current at a second terminal. The device includes measurement circuitry, having first and second input terminals, that determines a value of an electrical parameter based on signals present at the first and second input terminals. The device includes switching circuitry for connecting selected ones of the conductive pads to the first and second terminals of the current source and to the first and second input terminals of the measurement circuitry at a given time. The device also includes an onboard power supply.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2019
    Publication date: January 9, 2020
    Inventors: Mark E. Emerson, Steven T. Mayer, Lawrence Ossowski
  • Patent number: 10436829
    Abstract: A device for measuring electrical properties of electrical contacts within an electroplating apparatus has a disc-shaped structure like that of a wafer. Multiple conductive pads are formed to collectively circumscribe an outer periphery of the disc-shaped structure. Adjacently positioned ones of the conductive pads are electrically isolated from each other. The device includes a current source that supplies electric current at a first terminal and sinks electric current at a second terminal. The device includes measurement circuitry, having first and second input terminals, that determines a value of an electrical parameter based on signals present at the first and second input terminals. The device includes switching circuitry for connecting selected ones of the conductive pads to the first and second terminals of the current source and to the first and second input terminals of the measurement circuitry at a given time. The device also includes an onboard power supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Mark E. Emerson, Steven T. Mayer, Lawrence Ossowski
  • Publication number: 20170307554
    Abstract: A device for measuring electrical properties of electrical contacts within an electroplating apparatus has a disc-shaped structure like that of a wafer. Multiple conductive pads are formed to collectively circumscribe an outer periphery of the disc-shaped structure. Adjacently positioned ones of the conductive pads are electrically isolated from each other. The device includes a current source that supplies electric current at a first terminal and sinks electric current at a second terminal. The device includes measurement circuitry, having first and second input terminals, that determines a value of an electrical parameter based on signals present at the first and second input terminals. The device includes switching circuitry for connecting selected ones of the conductive pads to the first and second terminals of the current source and to the first and second input terminals of the measurement circuitry at a given time. The device also includes an onboard power supply.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2017
    Publication date: October 26, 2017
    Inventors: Mark E. Emerson, Steven T. Mayer, Lawrence Ossowski