Abstract: A glass heating and sealing system (10, 30, 60) and method for manufacturing a flat panel display including anode and cathode glass panels with a vacuum compartment between them includes a plurality of vacuum chambers (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 32, 34, 36, 38, 61, 76) for processing glass panels (39, 63, 74). Transfer of glass panels (39, 63, 74) between chambers (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 32, 34, 36, 38, 61, 76) is accomplished by a transfer mechanism (24, 42, 68, 72) located within a central vacuum chamber (22, 40, 70) commonly connected to the other chambers. System (10, 30, 60) may include a rapid thermal processing (RTP) chamber (14, 34, 38, 76) for quick and even heating of the panels (39, 63, 74). System (10) includes an e-beam bombardment chamber (16) for preconditioning the anode glass panels, and a heating chamber (18) for fusing anode glass panels to cathode glass panels. Different levels of vacuum may be established in different chambers.

Abstract: A test structure and a method of using it for measuring submicron linewidths. Diffraction gratings are made with lines having an unknown linewidth. The grating has a pitch comprises of multiple lines and multiple spaces. This permits a wider "effective pitch" resulting in an increased number of observable diffraction orders. Each order provides an intensity measurement, which can be substituted into a diffraction intensity equation in which intensity is a function of linewidth and other unknown variables. At least as many intensity measurements are obtained as are unknown variables so that a system of equations can be solved for the linewidth. In practice, if the grating lines are made in the same manner as other lines of a product, the width of the latter can be inferred.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for measuring submicron linewidths, using diffraction gratings. A set of "fixed-linewidth variable-pitchwidth" test gratings has a number of gratings, each grating having the same linewidth but having different pitchwidths. These gratings are illuminated to form diffraction patterns. A set of peak intensities of the first or second order diffraction image from each grating is recorded. Either of these intensity values forms a curve around an extrema, which represents the intensity from a grating whose pitchwidth is equal to one-half the linewidth.