Patents by Inventor Tatsuo Matsudo

Tatsuo Matsudo 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: 9304050
    Abstract: A temperature measurement apparatus includes a light source; a first splitter that splits a light beam into a measurement beam and a reference beam; a reference beam reflector that reflects the reference beam; an optical path length adjustor; a second splitter that splits the reflected reference beam into a first reflected reference beam and a second reflected reference beam; a first photodetector that measures an interference between the first reflected reference beam and a reflected measurement beam obtained by the measurement beam reflected from a target object; a second photodetector that measures an intensity of the second reflected reference beam; and a temperature calculation unit. The temperature calculation unit calculates a location of the interference by subtracting an output signal of the second photodetector from an output signal of the first photodetector, and calculates a temperature of the target object from the calculated location of the interference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2016
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Jun Abe, Tatsuo Matsudo, Chishio Koshimizu
  • Patent number: 9163931
    Abstract: An apparatus for measuring a thickness or wear amount and a temperature of the ceramic member by using a terahertz wave includes a terahertz wave generating unit configured to output a terahertz wave, a terahertz wave analysis unit configured to analyze a terahertz wave and an optical system configured to guide the terahertz wave output from the terahertz wave generating unit to the ceramic member and guide reflected waves of the terahertz wave reflected from the ceramic member to the terahertz wave analysis unit. The terahertz wave analysis unit obtains an optical path difference between a first reflection wave reflected from a front surface of the ceramic member and a second reflection wave reflected from a rear surface of the ceramic member and measures a thickness of the ceramic member based on the optical path difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tatsuo Matsudo, Chishio Koshimizu
  • Publication number: 20150221478
    Abstract: A capacitive coupling plasma processing apparatus includes a process chamber configured to have a vacuum atmosphere, and a process gas supply section configured to supply a process gas into the chamber. In the chamber, a first electrode and a second electrode are disposed opposite each other. The second electrode includes a plurality of conductive segments separated from each other and facing the first electrode. An RF power supply is configured to apply an RF power to the first electrode to form an RF electric field within a plasma generation region between the first and second electrodes, so as to turn the process gas into plasma by the RF electric field. A DC power supply is configured to apply a DC voltage to at least one of the segments of the second electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 16, 2015
    Publication date: August 6, 2015
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Shinji HIMORI, Tatsuo Matsudo
  • Publication number: 20150185092
    Abstract: In a heat-flux measuring method for measuring an ion flux of plasma generated in a substrate processing chamber using a heat flux, a heat-flux measuring member is exposed to the plasma and irradiatated with a low coherent light. The heat-flux measuring member has a three-layered structure in which a first length and a second length of optical paths of the low-coherent light in the first layer and the third layer are measured using optical interference of reflected lights from the heat-flux measuring member. Current temperatures of the first layer and the third layer are obtained based on the measured first length, the measured second length, and data representing thermal-optical path length relationship. A heat flux flowing through the heat-flux measuring member is calculated based on the obtained temperatures, and a thickness and a thermal conductivity of the second layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2014
    Publication date: July 2, 2015
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Chishio KOSHIMIZU, Tatsuo MATSUDO
  • Patent number: 9070725
    Abstract: Provided a measuring apparatus includes a wavelength dispersion device which dispersed light reflected by one surface of an examination target having a thickness D and light reflected by a rear surface of the examination target, as incident light, a detector in which a plurality of photodetection elements receiving light dispersed by the wavelength dispersion device and detecting a power of the received light in are provided in an array shape, and a piezoelectric device which is attached to the detector to convert an applied voltage into a mechanical power, wherein the detector detects the power of the received light when the detector is shifted by the mechanical power converted by the piezoelectric device as much as d/m, where d is a width of each of the photodetection elements in an array direction and m is an integer equal to or greater than 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tatsuo Matsudo, Hidetoshi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20150176974
    Abstract: An apparatus for measuring a thickness or wear amount and a temperature of the ceramic member by using a terahertz wave includes a terahertz wave generating unit configured to output a terahertz wave, a terahertz wave analysis unit configured to analyze a terahertz wave and an optical system configured to guide the terahertz wave output from the terahertz wave generating unit to the ceramic member and guide reflected waves of the terahertz wave reflected from the ceramic member to the terahertz wave analysis unit. The terahertz wave analysis unit obtains an optical path difference between a first reflection wave reflected from a front surface of the ceramic member and a second reflection wave reflected from a rear surface of the ceramic member and measures a thickness of the ceramic member based on the optical path difference.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Publication date: June 25, 2015
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tatsuo MATSUDO, Chishio KOSHIMIZU
  • Publication number: 20150168231
    Abstract: A temperature measuring method of a component of a substrate processing chamber including a surface being worn or being deposited with a foreign material by using. The method includes: providing data representing a relationship between a temperature of the component and an optical path length of a predetermined path within the component; measuring an optical path length of the predetermined path within the component by using optical interference of reflection lights of a low-coherence light from the component when the low-coherence light is irradiated onto the component to travel through the predetermined path; and obtaining a temperature of the component by comparing the measured optical path length with the data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2014
    Publication date: June 18, 2015
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Chishio KOSHIMIZU, Tatsuo MATSUDO
  • Publication number: 20150170882
    Abstract: Disclosed is a plasma processing apparatus including a chamber configured to perform a processing on a wafer by plasma, a VF power supply configured to change a frequency of a high frequency power to be supplied into the chamber, a susceptor configured to mount the wafer thereon, and a focus ring disposed to surround the wafer. A first route, which passes through the plasma starting from the VF power supply, passes through the susceptor, the wafer and the plasma, and a second route, which passes through the plasma starting from the VF power supply, passes through the susceptor, the focus ring and the plasma. The reflection minimum frequency of the first route is different from the reflection minimum frequency of the second route, and the frequency range changeable by the VF power supply includes the reflection minimum frequencies of the first and second routes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2014
    Publication date: June 18, 2015
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Jun YAMAWAKU, Chishio KOSHIMIZU, Tatsuo MATSUDO
  • Publication number: 20150168130
    Abstract: A wear amount measuring apparatus includes a light source, a light transmission unit, a first and a second irradiation unit, a spectroscope and an analysis unit. The light transmission unit splits a low-coherence light from the light source into a first and a second low-coherence light. The first and the second irradiation units irradiate the first and the second low-coherence light to the component to receive reflected lights from the component. The light transmission unit transmits the reflected lights received by the first irradiation unit and the second irradiation unit to the spectroscope. The spectroscope configured to detect intensity distribution of the reflected lights from the first and the second irradiation unit. The analysis unit calculates a thickness difference between a thickness of the component at the first measuring point and that at the second measuring point by performing Fourier transform on the intensity distribution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2014
    Publication date: June 18, 2015
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Tatsuo MATSUDO
  • Patent number: 9046417
    Abstract: The temperature measuring system using optical interference includes a light source which generates measuring light; a spectroscope which measures an interference intensity distribution that is an intensity distribution of reflected light; optical transfer mechanisms which emit light reflected from a surface and a rear surface of the object to be measured to the spectroscope; an optical path length calculation unit which calculates an optical path length by performing Fourier transformation; and a temperature calculation unit which calculates a temperature of the object to be measured on the basis of a relation between optical path lengths and temperatures. The light source has a half-width at half-maximum of a light source spectrum that satisfies conditions based on a wavelength span of the spectroscope. The spectroscope measures the intensity distribution by using the number of samplings that satisfies conditions based on the wavelength span and a maximum measurable thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tatsuo Matsudo, Kenji Nagai
  • Patent number: 9038566
    Abstract: A capacitive coupling plasma processing apparatus includes a process chamber configured to have a vacuum atmosphere, and a process gas supply section configured to supply a process gas into the chamber. In the chamber, a first electrode and a second electrode are disposed opposite each other. The second electrode includes a plurality of conductive segments separated from each other and facing the first electrode. An RF power supply is configured to apply an RF power to the first electrode to form an RF electric field within a plasma generation region between the first and second electrodes, so as to turn the process gas into plasma by the RF electric field. A DC power supply is configured to apply a DC voltage to at least one of the segments of the second electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Shinji Himori, Tatsuo Matsudo
  • Patent number: 9028139
    Abstract: A component in a processing chamber of a substrate processing apparatus, where a temperature may be accurately measured by using a temperature measuring apparatus using an interference of a low-coherence light, even when a front surface and a rear surface are not parallel due to abrasion, or the like. A focus ring used in a vacuum atmosphere and of which a temperature is measured includes an abrasive surface exposed to an abrasive atmosphere according to plasma, a nonabrasive surface not exposed to the abrasive atmosphere, a thin-walled portion including a top surface and a bottom surface that are parallel to each other, and a coating member coating the top surface of the thin-walled portion, wherein a mirror-like finishing is performed on each of the top and bottom surfaces of the thin-walled portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Jun Yamawaku, Chishio Koshimizu, Tatsuo Matsudo
  • Patent number: 9022645
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus and a temperature measuring method that may measure a temperature of an object in a processing chamber by a low-coherence interferometer without forming a hole in a holding stage or an upper electrode of the plasma processing apparatus, thereby performing a plasma process of a substrate with high precision and uniformity. The plasma processing apparatus is implemented by disposing a light source collimator outside of a light source window, disposing a light-receiving collimator outside of a light-receiving window, allowing a measurement light emitted from the light source collimator to pass through the light source window to be obliquely emitted to a surface of the object to be measured, and allowing the reflected measurement light to pass through the light-receiving window to be incident on the light-receiving collimator. The temperature of the object in the processing chamber may be measured by the low-coherence interferometer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventor: Tatsuo Matsudo
  • Patent number: 9019505
    Abstract: The temperature control system includes: a susceptor which allows an object to be processed to be held on a top surface thereof and includes a flow path, through which a temperature adjusting medium flows, formed therein; a temperature measuring unit which measures a temperature of the object to be processed held on the top surface of the susceptor; a first temperature adjusting unit which adjusts a temperature of the temperature adjusting medium flowing through the flow path; and a second temperature adjusting unit which is disposed between the susceptor and the first temperature adjusting unit, and adjusts a temperature of the temperature adjusting medium based on a result of the measurement of the temperature measuring unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Jun Yamawaku, Chishio Koshimizu, Tatsuo Matsudo, Kenji Nagai
  • Patent number: 8986494
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes a temperature measuring unit; airtightly sealed temperature measuring windows provided in a mounting table, for optically communicating to transmit a measurement beam through a top surface and a bottom surface of the mounting table; and one or more connection members for connecting the mounting table and a base plate, which is provided in a space between the mounting table and the base plate. In the plasma processing apparatus, a space above the mounting table is set to be maintained under a vacuum atmosphere, and a space between the mounting table and the base plate is set to be maintained under a normal pressure atmosphere, and each collimator is fixed to the base plate at a position corresponding to each temperature measuring window, thereby measuring a temperature of the substrate via the temperature measuring windows by the temperature measuring unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Tatsuo Matsudo, Chishlo Koshimizu, Jun Abe
  • Patent number: 8858753
    Abstract: There are provided a method of heating a focus ring and a plasma etching apparatus, capable of simplifying a structure of a heating mechanism without a dummy substrate. The plasma etching apparatus includes a vacuum processing chamber; a lower electrode serving as a mounting table for mounting a substrate thereon; an upper electrode provided to face the lower electrode; a gas supply unit for supplying a processing gas; a high frequency power supply for supplying a high frequency power to the lower electrode to generate a plasma of the processing gas; and a focus ring provided on the lower electrode to surround a periphery of the substrate. In the plasma etching apparatus, the focus ring is heated by irradiating a heating light thereto from a light source provided outside the vacuum processing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Chishio Koshimizu, Jun Yamawaku, Tatsuo Matsudo, Masashi Saito
  • Publication number: 20140286375
    Abstract: A temperature measuring apparatus includes a light source, a first splitter, a second splitter, a reference beam reflector, an optical path length adjuster, a reference beam transmitting member, a first to an nth measuring beam transmitting member and a photodetector. The temperature measuring apparatus further includes an attenuator that attenuates the reference beam reflected from the reference beam reflector to thereby make an intensity thereof closer to an intensity of the measurement beam reflected from the temperature measurement object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2014
    Publication date: September 25, 2014
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Jun ABE, Tatsuo MATSUDO, Chishio KOSHIMIZU
  • Patent number: 8825434
    Abstract: A temperature measuring method includes: transmitting a light to a measurement point of an object to be measured, the object being a substrate on which a thin film is formed; measuring a first interference wave caused by a reflected light from a surface of the substrate, and a second interference wave caused by reflected lights from an interface between the substrate and the thin film and from a rear surface of the thin film; calculating an optical path length from the first interference wave to the second interference wave; calculating a film thickness of the thin film; calculating an optical path difference between an optical path length of the substrate and the calculated optical path length; compensating for the optical path length from the first interference wave to the second interference wave; and calculating a temperature of the object at the measurement point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Chishio Koshimizu, Jun Yamawaku, Tatsuo Matsudo
  • Patent number: 8824875
    Abstract: There is provided a method for heating a part within a processing chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having a substrate in the processing chamber and performing a process on the substrate. The heating method includes generating heating lights which is generated by a heating light source provided outside the processing chamber and has a wavelength band capable of passing through a first part in the processing chamber and being absorbed into a second part in the processing chamber made of a material different from that of the first part, and heating the second part in the processing chamber by passing the heating lights through the first part in the processing chamber and irradiating the heating lights to the second part in the processing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Jun Yamawaku, Chishio Koshimizu, Tatsuo Matsudo
  • Patent number: 8777483
    Abstract: The temperature measuring apparatus includes: a light source; a first wavelength-dividing unit which wavelength-divides a light from the light source into m lights whose wavelength bands are different from one another; m first dividing units which divides each of the m lights from the first wavelength-dividing unit into n lights; a transmitting unit which transmits lights from the m first dividing unit to measurement points of an object to be measured; a light receiving unit which receives a light reflected by each of the measurement points; and a temperature calculating unit which calculates a temperature of each of the measurement points based on a waveform of the light received by the light receiving unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Jun Yamawaku, Chishio Koshimizu, Tatsuo Matsudo, Kenji Nagai