Patents by Inventor Masaru Akamatsu

Masaru Akamatsu 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: 9354047
    Abstract: A rotational misalignment between semiconductor wafers constituting a bonded wafer is calculated. A light source is arranged at a position which is on a front side of an opening of a notch and which is separated from an outer edge portion of a bonded wafer by a predetermined interval, and outputs light to irradiate the outer edge portion of the bonded wafer including the notch. A camera receives and photoelectrically converts reflected light that is specularly-reflected by the outer edge portion of the bonded wafer including the notch among the light outputted by the light source in order to output a brightness distribution of the reflected light as an image. A computer analyzes positions of notches from the image outputted by the camera to obtain a notch position misalignment, and further calculates a rotational misalignment between semiconductor wafers using a center position misalignment between the semiconductor wafers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignees: KOBE STEEL, LTD., KOBELCO RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.
    Inventors: Masato Kannaka, Masakazu Kajita, Eiji Takahashi, Yuji Yamamoto, Masaru Akamatsu, Kunio Iba, Kenji Imanishi
  • Publication number: 20130139950
    Abstract: A rotational misalignment between semiconductor wafers constituting a bonded wafer is calculated. A light source is arranged at a position which is on a front side of an opening of a notch and which is separated from an outer edge portion of a bonded wafer by a predetermined interval, and outputs light to irradiate the outer edge portion of the bonded wafer including the notch. A camera receives and photoelectrically converts reflected light that is specularly-reflected by the outer edge portion of the bonded wafer including the notch among the light outputted by the light source in order to output a brightness distribution of the reflected light as an image. A computer analyzes positions of notches from the image outputted by the camera to obtain a notch position misalignment, and further calculates a rotational misalignment between semiconductor wafers using a center position misalignment between the semiconductor wafers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Publication date: June 6, 2013
    Applicants: Kobelco Research Institute, Inc., Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Masato KANNAKA, Masakazu Kajita, Eiji Takahashi, Yuji Yamamoto, Masaru Akamatsu, Kunio Iba, Kenji Imanishi
  • Patent number: 8310536
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are provided for measuring the end surface of a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer based on its projection image, without the influence of contaminants on the end surface. A rotation supporting mechanism supports a wafer between a first supporting position rotated by +?relative to a predetermined reference position and a second supporting position rotated by ??degrees at two or more supporting positions. An image sensor picks up a projection image of the wafer's end surface. An index value for the end surface is calculated for each of a plurality of obtained projection images. One representative value of the calculated index values or an aggregate value is obtained, and a shape measurement of the wafer's end surface corresponding to the reference supporting position is derived. When the wafer's radius and a chamfer width are set as r and k, ??cos?1 ((r-k)/r) is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: Kobelco Research Institute, Inc.
    Inventors: Masaru Akamatsu, Hidehisa Hashizume, Yasuhide Nakai
  • Patent number: 8228509
    Abstract: A shape measuring device including a light projecting device for projecting a light flux to a measurement portion, and image pickup device for picking up a projection image of the measurement portion. The light projecting device includes a collimator lens having outgoing light of a point light source pass and collimating the same in a light projection direction and one or more apertures shielding passage of light in a range outside an image pickup range or passage of light in a range inside the image pickup range and outside a boundary located in a range outside a projection image of a measurement portion. Moreover, a parallel supporting portion for supporting a face of the measurement target in parallel with the light projection direction at a position on the center side with respect to the measurement portion in the measurement target supported by a center sucking and supporting mechanism is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: Kobelco Research Institute, Inc.
    Inventors: Masaru Akamatsu, Hidehisa Hashizume, Yasuhide Nakai
  • Publication number: 20100302551
    Abstract: When a shape of an end face of a disc-shaped measurement target is to be measured on the basis of its projection image, a shape measuring device in which a non-parallel light component is not contained in a light flux projected to the measurement target as much as possible and moreover, correct shape measurement can be made by ensuring parallelism between a light projection direction and each face of front and back sides of the measurement target.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2008
    Publication date: December 2, 2010
    Inventors: Masaru Akamatsu, Hidehisa Hashizume, Yasuhide Nakai
  • Publication number: 20100134615
    Abstract: To provide a shape measurement apparatus and a shape measurement method with which it is possible to perform a shape measurement, when a shape of an end surface of a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer or the like is measured on the basis of a projection image thereof, without receiving an influence of a contaminant on the end surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2008
    Publication date: June 3, 2010
    Inventors: Masaru Akamatsu, Hidehisa Hashizume, Yasuhide Nakai
  • Patent number: 7456978
    Abstract: A shape measuring apparatus includes a point light source including a white light-emitting diode, a collimator lens for forming a parallel beam as a result of causing light emitted from the point light source to be incident upon the collimator lens, a telecentric lens device, including two-side telecentric optics or object-side telecentric optics, for being irradiated with the light that has passed an object to be measured from the collimator lens, and an image sensor for projecting thereon an image of the object produced by the light that has passed through the telecentric lens device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2008
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventor: Masaru Akamatsu
  • Publication number: 20060109484
    Abstract: A shape measuring apparatus includes a point light source including a white light-emitting diode, a collimator lens for forming a parallel beam as a result of causing light emitted from the point light source to be incident upon the collimator lens, a telecentric lens device, including two-side telecentric optics or object-side telecentric optics, for being irradiated with the light that has passed an object to be measured from the collimator lens, and an image sensor for projecting thereon an image of the object produced by the light that has passed through the telecentric lens device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2005
    Publication date: May 25, 2006
    Inventor: Masaru Akamatsu
  • Patent number: 5519494
    Abstract: Light is introduced to an inner surface of a fine tube, which is an object for measurement of the inner surface roughness, through a first end of the fine tube at a small angle with respect to a center line of the fine tube and the light emerging from a second end of the fine tube after the light is reflected by multiple reflections within the fine tube is measured to evaluate the roughness of the inner surface of the fine tube. Upon such measurement, the light to be introduced to the first end of the fine tube is converged once on the center line of the fine tube and then diverged again, and the polarization direction of the light to be introduced to the first end of the fine tube is set to an angle equal to or around 90 degrees with respect to the reflection surface of the fine tube. Thus, the roughness of the inner surface of the fine tube can be calculated in accordance with a result of detection of the intensity of emergent light from the fine tube by means of a photo detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1996
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Masaru Akamatsu, Norio Suzuki, Noritsugu Fujii, Satoshi Yanai