Patents by Inventor Minoru Fukuda

Minoru Fukuda 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: 20240014079
    Abstract: To improve the throughput of substrate bonding. A substrate bonding apparatus that bonds first and second substrates so that contact regions in which the first and second substrates contact are formed in parts of the first and second substrates and the contact regions enlarge from the parts, the apparatus including: a detecting unit detecting information about the contact regions; and a determining unit determining that the first and second substrates can be carried out based on the information detected at the detecting unit. In the substrate bonding apparatus, the information may be information, a value of which changes according to progress of enlargement of the contact regions, and the determining unit may determine that the first and second substrates can be carried out if the value becomes constant or if a rate of changes in the value becomes lower than a predetermined value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2023
    Publication date: January 11, 2024
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Isao SUGAYA, Eiji ARIIZUMI, Yoshiaki KITO, Mikio USHIJIMA, Masanori ARAMATA, Naoto KIRIBE, Hiroshi SHIRASU, Hajime MITSUISHI, Minoru FUKUDA, Masaki TSUNODA
  • Publication number: 20230413398
    Abstract: The lighting circuit for lighting a dielectric barrier discharge lamp includes a direct-current power source, a transformer having a primary winding connected to a positive electrode-side terminal of the direct-current power source and a secondary winding connected to the dielectric barrier discharge lamp, a closed circuit in which the direct-current power source, the primary winding, and a switching element including a parasitic diode are serially connected, and a controller to perform ON/OFF control of the switching element. The controller executes a first step to shift the switching element from an ON state to an OFF state and a second step to shift the switching element from the OFF state to the ON state after a lapse of a predetermined OFF holding time from when a regenerative current flowing through the primary winding reaches a zero value after the first step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2021
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Applicant: Ushio Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Minoru FUKUDA, Takanori SAMEJIMA
  • Patent number: 11823935
    Abstract: A stacking apparatus that stacks substrate and a second substrate includes: a plurality of holding members that hold the first substrate, wherein the plurality of bolding members correct positional misalignment of the first substrate relative to the second substrate by preset amounts of correction, and the plurality of holding members include holding members having the amounts of correction that are different from each other. The stacking apparatus may further include a carrying unit that carries a holding member that is selected from among the plurality of holding members and holds the first substrate from a position here the holding member is housed to a position where the first substrate is held.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hajime Mitsuishi, Isao Sugaya, Minoru Fukuda
  • Patent number: 11791223
    Abstract: To improve the throughput of substrate bonding. A substrate bonding apparatus that bonds first and second substrates so that contact regions in which the first and second substrates contact are formed in parts of the first and second substrates and the contact regions enlarge from the parts, the apparatus including: a detecting unit detecting information about the contact regions; and a determining unit determining that the first and second substrates can be carried out based on the information detected at the detecting unit. In the substrate bonding apparatus, the information may be information, a value of which changes according to progress of enlargement of the contact regions, and the determining unit may determine that the first and second substrates can be carried out if the value becomes constant or if a rate of changes in the value becomes lower than a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventors: Isao Sugaya, Eiji Ariizumi, Yoshiaki Kito, Mikio Ushijima, Masanori Aramata, Naoto Kiribe, Hiroshi Shirasu, Hajime Mitsuishi, Minoru Fukuda, Masaki Tsunoda
  • Patent number: 11362059
    Abstract: A manufacturing method for manufacturing a stacked substrate by bonding two substrates includes: acquiring information about crystal structures of a plurality of substrates; and determining a combination of two substrates to be bonded to each other, based on the information about the crystal structures. In the manufacturing method described above, the information about the crystal structures may include at least one of plane orientations of bonding surfaces and crystal orientations in a direction in parallel with the bonding surfaces. In the manufacturing methods described above, the determining may include determining a combination of the two substrates with a misalignment amount after bonding being equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventors: Isao Sugaya, Atsushi Kamashita, Hajime Mitsuishi, Minoru Fukuda
  • Patent number: 11343885
    Abstract: A light source device includes a light source unit having a dielectric barrier discharge lamp and a lighting circuit. The lighting circuit includes a transformer; a switching element; a controller for the switching element; a detector that detects current flowing through or voltage on a primary or a secondary side of the transformer; and a determination unit. The controller is configured to enable performing a steady-state operation of controlling ON/OFF of the switching element at a steady-state operation frequency (f1) to steadily light the dielectric barrier discharge lamp; and a determination operation of controlling ON/OFF of the switching element at a determination operation frequency (f2) higher than the steady-state operation frequency (f1), and the determination unit determines whether or not to stop the lighting operation based on the current or the voltage detected by the detector when the controller controls the switching element at the determination operation frequency (f2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: Ushio Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Minoru Fukuda
  • Publication number: 20220148978
    Abstract: A substrate stacking apparatus that stacks first and second substrates on each other, by forming a contact region where the first substrate held by a first holding section and the second substrate held by a second holding section contact each other, at one portion of the first and second substrates, and expanding the contact region from the one portion by releasing holding of the first substrate by the first holding section, wherein an amount of deformation occurring in a plurality of directions at least in the first substrate differs when the contact region expands, and the substrate stacking apparatus includes a restricting section that restricts misalignment between the first and second substrates caused by a difference in the amount of deformation. In the substrate stacking apparatus above, the restricting section may restrict the misalignment such that an amount of the misalignment is less than or equal to a prescribed value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2021
    Publication date: May 12, 2022
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Isao SUGAYA, Kazuya OKAMOTO, Hajime MITSUISHI, Minoru FUKUDA
  • Publication number: 20220084870
    Abstract: A substrate holder includes a central support portion configured to support a central portion of a substrate, and an circumferential support portion arranged on an outside of the central support portion and configured to support a circumferential portion on an outside of the central portion, and the circumferential support portion is configured to support the circumferential portion so that at least a partial region of the circumferential portion is curved toward the substrate holder with a curvature greater than that of the central portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2021
    Publication date: March 17, 2022
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hajime MITSUISHI, Isao SUGAYA, Atsushi KAMASHITA, Masashi OKADA, Minoru FUKUDA, Hidehiro MAEDA
  • Publication number: 20220070981
    Abstract: A light source device includes a light source unit having a dielectric barrier discharge lamp and a lighting circuit. The lighting circuit includes a transformer; a switching element; a controller for the switching element; a detector that detects current flowing through or voltage on a primary or a secondary side of the transformer; and a determination unit. The controller is configured to enable performing a steady-state operation of controlling ON/OFF of the switching element at a steady-state operation frequency (f1) to steadily light the dielectric barrier discharge lamp; and a determination operation of controlling ON/OFF of the switching element at a determination operation frequency (f2) higher than the steady-state operation frequency (f1), and the determination unit determines whether or not to stop the lighting operation based on the current or the voltage detected by the detector when the controller controls the switching element at the determination operation frequency (f2).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Publication date: March 3, 2022
    Applicant: Ushio Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Minoru FUKUDA
  • Patent number: 11211338
    Abstract: A substrate stacking apparatus that stacks first and second substrates on each other, by forming a contact region where the first substrate held by a first holding section and the second substrate held by a second holding section contact each other, at one portion of the first and second substrates, and expanding the contact region from the one portion by releasing holding of the first substrate by the first holding section, wherein an amount of deformation occurring in a plurality of directions at least in the first substrate differs when the contact region expands, and the substrate stacking apparatus includes a restricting section that restricts misalignment between the first and second substrates caused by a difference in the amount of deformation. In the substrate stacking apparatus above, the restricting section may restrict the misalignment such that an amount of the misalignment is less than or equal to a prescribed value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventors: Isao Sugaya, Kazuya Okamoto, Hajime Mitsuishi, Minoru Fukuda
  • Publication number: 20210242044
    Abstract: Provided is a substrate bonding apparatus comprising: a first holding unit for holding a first substrate; and a second holding unit for holding a second substrate, wherein the substrate bonding apparatus is configured to bond the first substrate and the second substrate by, after forming a contact region between a part of the first substrate and a part of the second substrate, expanding the contact region to form an initially bonded region and releasing the second substrate having the initially bonded region formed thereon from the second holding unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 20, 2021
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hajime MITSUISHI, Isao SUGAYA, Masaki TSUNODA, Kazuhiro SUZUKI, Takashi SHIOMI, Minoru FUKUDA
  • Publication number: 20210225651
    Abstract: A method for bonding a first substrate and a second substrate includes: forming a protrusion at a partial region of the first substrate; measuring a position of the first substrate after the protrusion is formed in the first substrate; and bonding the first substrate and the second substrate by contacting the protrusion of the first substrate with a surface of the second substrate to form a contact region and enlarging the contact region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2021
    Publication date: July 22, 2021
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hajime MITSUISHI, Isao SUGAYA, Minoru FUKUDA, Masaki TSUNODA, Hidehiro MAEDA, Ikuhiro KUWANO
  • Publication number: 20210138778
    Abstract: A bonding method including firstly bonding a first substrate to a second substrate by releasing a holding of the first substrate to form a first stack; and secondly bonding one substrate, which has been thinned, among the first substrate and the second substrate that have been bonded, to a third substrate, to form a second stack, wherein when the first substrate is thinned, the holding of the third substrate is released at the second bonding, and when the second substrate is thinned, the holding of the first stack is released at the second bonding.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2021
    Publication date: May 13, 2021
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshihiro MAEHARA, Atsushi KAMASHITA, Hajime MITSUISHI, Minoru FUKUDA
  • Patent number: 11004686
    Abstract: A method for bonding a first substrate and a second substrate includes: forming a protrusion at a partial region of the first substrate; measuring a position of the first substrate after the protrusion is formed in the first substrate; and bonding the first substrate and the second substrate by contacting the protrusion of the first substrate with a surface of the second substrate to form a contact region and enlarging the contact region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Assignee: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hajime Mitsuishi, Isao Sugaya, Minoru Fukuda, Masaki Tsunoda, Hidehiro Maeda, Ikuhiro Kuwano
  • Publication number: 20210028045
    Abstract: A stacking apparatus that stacks substrate and a second substrate includes: a plurality of holding members that hold the first substrate, wherein the plurality of bolding members correct positional misalignment of the first substrate relative to the second substrate by preset amounts of correction, and the plurality of holding members include holding members having the amounts of correction that are different from each other. The stacking apparatus may further include a carrying unit that carries a holding member that is selected from among the plurality of holding members and holds the first substrate from a position here the holding member is housed to a position where the first substrate is held.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Publication date: January 28, 2021
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hajirne MITSUISHI, Isao SUGAYA, Minoru FUKUDA
  • Publication number: 20200381387
    Abstract: An alignment method for aligning two substrates to be stacked, comprising measuring a position of a mark selected from plurality of marks disposed on at least one substrate of the two substrates and aligning the two substrates based on the position of the measured mark, wherein the mark to be measured is selected based on information relating to distortion of the at least one substrate. The mark may be a mark disposed in a region having a smaller distortion amount of the at least one substrate than a threshold. The mark may be a mark disposed in a region having a higher reproducibility of distortion that occurs in the at least one substrate than a threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2020
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hajime MITSUISHI, Minoru FUKUDA, Isao SUGAYA
  • Patent number: 10825707
    Abstract: A stacking apparatus that stacks a first substrate and a second substrate includes: a plurality of holding members that hold the first substrate, wherein the plurality of holding members correct positional misalignment of the first substrate relative to the second substrate by preset amounts of correction, and the plurality of holding members include holding members having the amounts of correction that are different from each other. The stacking apparatus may further include a carrying unit that carries a holding member that is selected from among the plurality of holding members and holds the first substrate from a position where the holding member is housed to a position where the first substrate is held.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventors: Hajime Mitsuishi, Isao Sugaya, Minoru Fukuda
  • Publication number: 20200273836
    Abstract: A manufacturing method for manufacturing a stacked substrate by bonding two substrates includes: acquiring information about crystal structures of a plurality of substrates; and determining a combination of two substrates to be bonded to each other, based on the information about the crystal structures. In the manufacturing method described above, the information about the crystal structures may include at least one of plane orientations of bonding surfaces and crystal orientations in a direction in parallel with the bonding surfaces. In the manufacturing methods described above, the determining may include determining a combination of the two substrates with a misalignment amount after bonding being equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2020
    Publication date: August 27, 2020
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Isao SUGAYA, Atsushi KAMASHITA, Hajime MITSUISHI, Minoru FUKUDA
  • Publication number: 20200043860
    Abstract: A substrate stacking apparatus that stacks first and second substrates on each other, by forming a contact region where the first substrate held by a first holding section and the second substrate held by a second holding section contact each other, at one portion of the first and second substrates, and expanding the contact region from the one portion by releasing holding of the first substrate by the first holding section, wherein an amount of deformation occurring in a plurality of directions at least in the first substrate differs when the contact region expands, and the substrate stacking apparatus includes a restricting section that restricts misalignment between the first and second substrates caused by a difference in the amount of deformation. In the substrate stacking apparatus above, the restricting section may restrict the misalignment such that an amount of the misalignment is less than or equal to a prescribed value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2019
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Isao SUGAYA, Kazuya OKAMOTO, Hajime MITSUISHI, Minoru FUKUDA
  • Patent number: 10483212
    Abstract: A substrate stacking apparatus that stacks first and second substrates on each other, by forming a contact region where the first substrate held by a first holding section and the second substrate held by a second holding section contact each other, at one portion of the first and second substrates, and expanding the contact region from the one portion by releasing holding of the first substrate by the first holding section, wherein an amount of deformation occurring in a plurality of directions at least in the first substrate differs when the contact region expands, and the substrate stacking apparatus includes a restricting section that restricts misalignment between the first and second substrates caused by a difference in the amount of deformation. In the substrate stacking apparatus above, the restricting section may restrict the misalignment such that an amount of the misalignment is less than or equal to a prescribed value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventors: Isao Sugaya, Kazuya Okamoto, Hajime Mitsuishi, Minoru Fukuda