Patents by Inventor Tetsuo Fukuoka

Tetsuo Fukuoka 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: 7797855
    Abstract: A heating apparatus 2 comprises a housing 20; a flat heating chamber 4 which is provided in the housing 2 and adapted to heat a wafer W used as a substrate, with one side of the heating chamber 4 opening for carrying in and carrying out the wafer; and a heating plates 44, 45 provided in the heating chamber 4 such that the wafer W can be heated from both above and below. A cooling plate 3 is provided in the housing 20 located in the vicinity of the opening of the heating chamber 4, for cooling the wafer W after being heated by the heating plates 44, 45. Additionally, a carrying means is provided in the housing 20 for carrying the wafer W between an upper position of the cooling plate 3 and the interior of the heating chamber 4 such that a heat treatment for the wafer W can be performed with the wafer W being held in the heating chamber 4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Tetsuo Fukuoka, Masami Akimoto, Takahiro Kitano, Yoshio Kimura, Shinichi Hayashi, Hikaru Ito
  • Publication number: 20090292491
    Abstract: Efficiency of inspection work for inspecting all the plurality of modules of a substrate processing system is improved and the management of information obtained by inspecting the modules is facilitated. A substrate processing system 50 provided with a plurality of modules for processing a substrate and capable of carrying out the measurement of the plurality of modules for inspection includes an inspection substrate WS provided with a plurality of measuring means 30 to 34 for carrying out a plurality of different kinds of measurement and a recording means 42 for recording measured data provided by the measuring means, and a control means 36 that executes control operations to subject the inspection substrate WS to predetermined processes in the plurality of modules. The control means 36 obtains a plurality of different kinds of measured data recorded in the recording means from the inspection substrate WS processed by the predetermined processes by the plurality of modules through data communication.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2007
    Publication date: November 26, 2009
    Applicant: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventor: Tetsuo Fukuoka
  • Publication number: 20090207390
    Abstract: There are provided an adhesion promoting process using a comparatively small amount of an adhesion promoting gas for processing a workpiece, an adhesion promoting device for carrying out the adhesion promoting process, a coating and developing system including the adhesion promoting device, and a storage medium storing a program specifying a set of instructions for carrying out the adhesion promoting process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2009
    Publication date: August 20, 2009
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tetsuo FUKUOKA, Takahiro Kitano
  • Publication number: 20080185370
    Abstract: A disclosed heating apparatus includes a heating chamber configured to heat a substrate placed in the heating chamber with a heat plate opposing the substrate; a gas stream forming portion that creates a gas stream along a top surface of the substrate in the heating chamber; and a pair of first plate members respectively located between an inner side wall of the heating chamber and a first substrate edge opposing the inner side wall, and between another inner side wall of the heating chamber and a second substrate edge opposing the other inner side wall.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2008
    Publication date: August 7, 2008
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tetsuo Fukuoka, Takahiro Kitano, Kazuo Terada
  • Publication number: 20080182217
    Abstract: A heating device 1 includes a flat heating chamber 3 provided with a side opening. A substrate W is carried in a horizontal position through the side opening into the processing chamber 3, and is subjected to a heating process in the heating chamber 3. the heating chamber 3 is provided with heating plates 34 and 35 respectively provided with heating elements 34a and 35a, and a cooling mechanism 2 for cooling the heating plates 34 and 35. A controller 7 controls the cooling mechanism such that the heating plates 34 and 35 are cooled after the completion of the heating process for heating the substrate W and before a succeeding substrate W is carried into the heating chamber 3, and controls the heating elements 34a and 35a such that the heating plates 34 and 35 are heated at a processing temperature after the succeeding substrate has been carried into the heating chamber 3.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2008
    Publication date: July 31, 2008
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tetsuo Fukuoka, Takahiro Kitano, Kazuo Terada
  • Publication number: 20080169279
    Abstract: A heating device has a heating chamber 3. An initial temperature distribution is created in a surface of a substrate (wafer W) when the substrate is carried into the heating chamber 3 . . . . Temperature distribution creating means (heating lamps 2) creates a preheating temperature distribution in the substrate supported on a cooling plate 4 at a waiting position before the substrate is carried into the heating chamber 3 so as to level out the initial temperature distribution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2008
    Publication date: July 17, 2008
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tetsuo Fukuoka, Takahiro Kitano, Kazuo Terada
  • Publication number: 20080135207
    Abstract: In a heat treatment device including a heating chamber having a heating plate heating a semiconductor wafer, a cooling plate cooling the wafer heated by the heating chamber, and a transporting device transporting the wafer into and from the heating chamber, the cooling plate is provided with a coolant passage, a plurality of projections carrying the wafer with a space between the wafer and the surface of the cooling plate, and suction holes neighboring to the respective projections and connected to a suction device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2007
    Publication date: June 12, 2008
    Inventors: Tetsuo Fukuoka, Takahiro Kitano, Kazuo Terada
  • Publication number: 20080011737
    Abstract: A hot plate for heating a substrate placed on the hot plate. The hot plate comprises a silicon base having pin insertion holes through which support pins for supporting a substrate from below and elevating the substrate above the hot plate pass; a heater composed of a resistor made of a metal film deposited on the back surface of the silicon base; and a temperature sensor, composed of a resistor made of a metal film deposited on the back or front surface of the silicon base. The front surface of the silicon base has gap-making protrusions for making a gap between the hot plate and a substrate placed on the gap-making protrusions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2007
    Publication date: January 17, 2008
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tetsuo Fukuoka, Takahiro Kitano
  • Publication number: 20070170170
    Abstract: This invention provides a wafer-type temperature sensor capable of eliminating the need for an A/D converter, adapting itself to automation and improving the heat resistance to measure temperature distribution of the upper surface of a wafer, a temperature measuring device using the sensor, a thermal processor having a temperature measurement function and a temperature measurement method. The wafer-type temperature sensor comprises a wafer and a plurality of temperature sensors arranged in regions which are formed by segmenting the upper surface of the wafer into a plurality of regions. Each of the temperature sensors includes an oscillation circuit for oscillating a frequency signal corresponding to the temperature of its own region within a frequency band that is different for every region in response to input of power supply voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2006
    Publication date: July 26, 2007
    Inventors: Noboyuki Sata, Takahiro Kitano, Tetsuo Fukuoka, Toshiyuki Matsumoto, Tomohide Minami
  • Publication number: 20070048979
    Abstract: A heating apparatus 2 comprises a housing 20; a flat heating chamber 4 which is provided in the housing 2 and adapted to heat a wafer W used as a substrate, with one side of the heating chamber 4 opening for carrying in and carrying out the wafer; and a heating plates 44, 45 provided in the heating chamber 4 such that the wafer W can be heated from both above and below. A cooling plate 3 is provided in the housing 20 located in the vicinity of the opening of the heating chamber 4, for cooling the wafer W after being heated by the heating plates 44, 45. Additionally, a carrying means is provided in the housing 20 for carrying the wafer W between an upper position of the cooling plate 3 and the interior of the heating chamber 4 such that a heat treatment for the wafer W can be performed with the wafer W being held in the heating chamber 4.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2006
    Publication date: March 1, 2007
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tetsuo Fukuoka, Masami Akimoto, Takahiro Kitano, Yoshi Kimura, Shinichi Hayashi, Hikaru Ito
  • Publication number: 20060234178
    Abstract: A substrate heating apparatus includes a top plate arranged above a hot plate so that a vertical space is formed between the hot plate and the top plate. The top plate has an evacuated internal chamber serving as a vacuum insulating layer that suppresses heat transfer from a first surface of the top plate facing the hot plate to a second surface of the top plate opposite to the first surface. When heating the substrate, a gas flow flowing through the space between the hot plate and the top plate is generated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2005
    Publication date: October 19, 2006
    Inventors: Shinichi Hayashi, Tetsuo Fukuoka, Tetsuya Oda, Hiroaki Inadomi
  • Publication number: 20060216665
    Abstract: A heating apparatus is configured to include a hot plate at which a substrate is placed, a top plate opposed to the substrate, a gas discharging part provided on one end side of the hot plate for discharging gas between the hot plate and the top plate, an exhaust part provided to be opposed to the gas discharging part with the hot plate interposed therebetween, and a heating part independently heating a first region and a second region of the substrate. A heating process is performed with good within-wafer uniformity by forming an unidirectional flow to heat the first region and the second region at different temperatures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2006
    Publication date: September 28, 2006
    Inventors: Tetsuo Fukuoka, Takahiro Kitano, Nobuaki Matsuoka
  • Patent number: 6744020
    Abstract: A heat processing apparatus comprises a hot plate for putting the substrate on or near its surface, a ceiling with a first and second concentric regions with a first and second heat pipes, respectively, opposite to the hot plate surface, a member surrounding a space between the hot plate and the ceiling, a gas flow generator supplying gas to the a region from a circumference of the hot plate to a center of the ceiling, and a temperature control mechanism for controlling a regional temperature of the first region in such a manner that a heat emission is greater from a center of the substrate than from a circumference of the substrate, thus heating a substrate to a uniform temperature all over its surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2004
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Eiichi Shirakawa, Tetsuo Fukuoka, Tsuyoshi Nogami
  • Publication number: 20020086259
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to heat a substrate at a uniform temperature all over its surface. The heat processing apparatus of the present invention comprises: a hot plate for putting the substrate on or near its surface; a ceiling with a first and second concentric regions with a first and second heat pipes, respectively, opposite to the hot plate surface; a surrounding member for surrounding a space between the hot plate and the ceiling; gas flow generation means for generating a gas flow in the space from a circumference of the hot plate to a center of the ceiling; and a temperature control mechanism for controlling a regional temperature of the first region. The temperature control mechanism controls the regional temperature in such a manner that a heat emission is greater from a center of the substrate than from a circumference of the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2001
    Publication date: July 4, 2002
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Eiichi Shirakawa, Tetsuo Fukuoka, Tsuyoshi Nogami
  • Patent number: 5791521
    Abstract: A liquid dispensing bag includes a bag body portion having a surface wall and a back wall formed of a flexible material having high gas barrier properties, and an elongated spout portion in which the surface wall and said back wall are projected in an elongated manner from a lower portion of the bag body portion. A flowpassage division area has the surface wall and the back wall welded integrally to divide a flowpassage toward the lower portion of the bag body portion. The flow passage division area is formed at a position close to the lower portion from the center of the bag body portion. The flowpassage division area is provided upwardly thereof with a pressure regulating area in which the surface wall and the back wall are welded. The flowpassage division area is formed in the central portion with a central flowpassage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 11, 1998
    Assignee: Tokan Kogyo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masuo Kitamura, Tetsuo Fukuoka, Kenji Ozawa, Kunio Yamada, Hajime Yamada
  • Patent number: 5346366
    Abstract: In a bladed rotor of the kind in which each blade has curved side surfaces and having fingers fitted in depressions of a shell and an opening of a core, the depressions of the shell and the opening of the core for receiving therein corresponding fingers of the blades are shaped and arranged so as to have, with respect to an elevational view of the rotor, longitudinal axes which coincide with straight lines extending radially through the center of the rotor, respectively. A die assembly for forming such depressions or openings in the shell or core is also provided. In such a die assembly, first and second die sections are adjustable in relative circumferential position for thereby adjusting the relative circumferential position relationship between the first and second groups of depressions or openings in the shell or core to be produced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 13, 1994
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinsuke Eguchi, Masayuki Suzuki, Tetsuo Fukuoka