Patents by Inventor Yasuaki Noda

Yasuaki Noda 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: 20240022693
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a substrate imaging apparatus includes: a rotary holding unit that holds and rotates a substrate; a mirror member having a reflecting surface that opposes an end face of the substrate and a peripheral portion of a back surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, the reflecting surface being inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the rotary holding unit; and a camera having an imaging device that receives both first light and second light through a lens, the first light coming from a peripheral portion of a front surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, and the second light being a reflected light of second light which comes from the end face of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit and is reflected by the reflecting surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2023
    Publication date: January 18, 2024
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Norihisa KOGA, Tadashi NISHIYAMA, Yasuaki NODA
  • Publication number: 20230395380
    Abstract: A processing method in one embodiment includes: a step that takes an image of the end face of a reference substrate, whose warp amount is known, over the whole periphery thereof using a camera to obtain shape data of the end face of the reference substrate; a step that takes an image of the end face of a substrate over the whole periphery thereof using a camera to obtain shape data of the end face of the substrate; a step that calculates warp amount of the substrate based on the obtained shape data; a step that forms a resist film on a surface of the substrate; a step that determines the supply position from which an organic solvent is to be supplied to a peripheral portion of the resist film and dissolves the peripheral portion by the solvent supplied from the supply position to remove the same from the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2023
    Publication date: December 7, 2023
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Yasuaki NODA, Tadashi NISHIYAMA
  • Patent number: 11832026
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a substrate imaging apparatus includes: a rotary holding unit that holds and rotates a substrate; a mirror member having a reflecting surface that opposes an end face of the substrate and a peripheral portion of a back surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, the reflecting surface being inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the rotary holding unit; and a camera having an imaging device that receives both first light and second light through a lens, the first light coming from a peripheral portion of a front surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, and the second light being a reflected light of second light which comes from the end face of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit and is reflected by the reflecting surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Norihisa Koga, Tadashi Nishiyama, Yasuaki Noda
  • Patent number: 11791162
    Abstract: A processing method in one embodiment includes: a step that takes an image of the end face of a reference substrate, whose warp amount is known, over the whole periphery thereof using a camera to obtain shape data of the end face of the reference substrate; a step that takes an image of the end face of a substrate over the whole periphery thereof using a camera to obtain shape data of the end face of the substrate; a step that calculates warp amount of the substrate based on the obtained shape data; a step that forms a resist film on a surface of the substrate; a step that determines the supply position from which an organic solvent is to be supplied to a peripheral portion of the resist film and dissolves the peripheral portion by the solvent supplied from the supply position to remove the same from the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Yasuaki Noda, Tadashi Nishiyama
  • Patent number: 11555691
    Abstract: A substrate inspection system includes an imaging unit provided in a substrate processing apparatus and configured to acquire image data by imaging a surface of a substrate for color information on which a film is formed; a film thickness measurement unit provided in the substrate processing apparatus and configured to measure a film thickness of a substrate for film thickness measurement on which a film is formed under same conditions as on the substrate for color information; and a model creation unit configured to create a film thickness model corresponding to a correlation between information about color change on the surface of the substrate for color information caused by forming the film, which is acquired based on the image data, and the film thickness of the substrate for film thickness measurement, which is measured by the film thickness measurement unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Hiroshi Nakamura, Toyohisa Tsuruda, Yasuaki Noda
  • Publication number: 20220252507
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes: a holding unit configured to hold a substrate having a film formed on a surface; an imaging unit configured to acquire image data by imaging the surface of the substrate held by the holding unit; a spectroscopic measuring unit configured to acquire spectroscopic data by dispersing light from the surface of the substrate held by the holding unit; and a control unit configured to control the holding unit, the imaging unit, and the spectroscopic measuring unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2020
    Publication date: August 11, 2022
    Inventor: Yasuaki NODA
  • Patent number: 11378388
    Abstract: A substrate inspection method includes a first process of taking, while rotating a holding table where a reference substrate is held, an image of an end surface of the reference substrate; a second process of obtaining shape data on the end surface of the reference substrate by processing the image; a third process of taking, while rotating the holding table where a target substrate is held, an image of an end surface of the target substrate; a fourth process of obtaining shape data on the end surface of the target substrate by processing the image; and a fifth process of calculating a warpage amount of the target substrate by obtaining a difference between the shape data obtained in the second process and in the fourth process under a condition that a rotational position of the holding table in the first process coincides with that in the third process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Kazuya Hisano, Akiko Kiyotomi, Yasuaki Noda, Keisuke Hamamoto, Tadashi Nishiyama
  • Publication number: 20210185282
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a substrate imaging apparatus includes: a rotary holding unit that holds and rotates a substrate; a mirror member having a reflecting surface that opposes an end face of the substrate and a peripheral portion of a back surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, the reflecting surface being inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the rotary holding unit; and a camera having an imaging device that receives both first light and second light through a lens, the first light coming from a peripheral portion of a front surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, and the second light being a reflected light of second light which comes from the end face of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit and is reflected by the reflecting surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2021
    Publication date: June 17, 2021
    Applicant: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Norihisa KOGA, Tadashi NISHIYAMA, Yasuaki NODA
  • Patent number: 10958879
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a substrate imaging apparatus includes: a rotary holding unit that holds and rotates a substrate; a mirror member having a reflecting surface that opposes an end face of the substrate and a peripheral portion of a back surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, the reflecting surface being inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the rotary holding unit; and a camera having an imaging device that receives both first light and second light through a lens, the first light coming from a peripheral portion of a front surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, and the second light being a reflected light of second light which comes from the end face of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit and is reflected by the reflecting surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Norihisa Koga, Tadashi Nishiyama, Yasuaki Noda
  • Publication number: 20200386538
    Abstract: A substrate inspection system includes an imaging unit provided in a substrate processing apparatus and configured to acquire image data by imaging a surface of a substrate for color information on which a film is formed; a film thickness measurement unit provided in the substrate processing apparatus and configured to measure a film thickness of a substrate for film thickness measurement on which a film is formed under same conditions as on the substrate for color information; and a model creation unit configured to create a film thickness model corresponding to a correlation between information about color change on the surface of the substrate for color information caused by forming the film, which is acquired based on the image data, and the film thickness of the substrate for film thickness measurement, which is measured by the film thickness measurement unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2020
    Publication date: December 10, 2020
    Inventors: Hiroshi Nakamura, Toyohisa Tsuruda, Yasuaki Noda
  • Patent number: 10707109
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes carry in/out station, transfer station, processing station, and image capturing unit. The carry in/out station includes first conveyance device that takes out and conveys substrate from cassette. The transfer station is disposed adjacent to the carry in/out station, and includes substrate placement unit on which the substrate conveyed by the first conveyance device is placed. The processing station is disposed adjacent to the transfer station, and includes second conveyance device that takes out and conveys the substrate from the substrate placement unit, and a plurality of processing units that processes the substrate conveyed by the second conveyance device. The image capturing unit is disposed in the transfer station, and captures an image of the peripheral edge portion of one of the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate and the end surface of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Satoshi Morita, Ryoji Ikebe, Yasuaki Noda, Norihisa Koga, Keisuke Hamamoto, Masato Hosaka
  • Publication number: 20200096321
    Abstract: A substrate inspection method includes a first process of taking, while rotating a holding table where a reference substrate is held, an image of an end surface of the reference substrate; a second process of obtaining shape data on the end surface of the reference substrate by processing the image; a third process of taking, while rotating the holding table where a target substrate is held, an image of an end surface of the target substrate; a fourth process of obtaining shape data on the end surface of the target substrate by processing the image; and a fifth process of calculating a warpage amount of the target substrate by obtaining a difference between the shape data obtained in the second process and in the fourth process under a condition that a rotational position of the holding table in the first process coincides with that in the third process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2019
    Publication date: March 26, 2020
    Inventors: Kazuya Hisano, Akiko Kiyotomi, Yasuaki Noda, Keisuke Hamamoto, Tadashi Nishiyama
  • Publication number: 20200084422
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a substrate imaging apparatus includes: a rotary holding unit that holds and rotates a substrate; a mirror member having a reflecting surface that opposes an end face of the substrate and a peripheral portion of a back surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, the reflecting surface being inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the rotary holding unit; and a camera having an imaging device that receives both first light and second light through a lens, the first light coming from a peripheral portion of a front surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, and the second light being a reflected light of second light which comes from the end face of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit and is reflected by the reflecting surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 12, 2019
    Publication date: March 12, 2020
    Applicant: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Norihisa KOGA, Tadashi Nishiyama, Yasuaki Noda
  • Patent number: 10523905
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a substrate imaging apparatus includes: a rotary holding unit that holds and rotates a substrate; a mirror member having a reflecting surface that opposes an end face of the substrate and a peripheral portion of a back surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, the reflecting surface being inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the rotary holding unit; and a camera having an imaging device that receives both first light and second light through a lens, the first light coming from a peripheral portion of a front surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, and the second light being a reflected light of second light which comes from the end face of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit and is reflected by the reflecting surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Norihisa Koga, Tadashi Nishiyama, Yasuaki Noda
  • Publication number: 20190287796
    Abstract: A processing method in one embodiment includes: a step that takes an image of the end face of a reference substrate, whose warp amount is known, over the whole periphery thereof using a camera to obtain shape data of the end face of the reference substrate over the whole periphery of the reference substrate; a step that takes an image of the end face of a substrate over the whole periphery thereof using a camera to obtain shape data of the end face of the substrate over the whole periphery of the substrate; a step that calculates warp amount of the substrate based on the obtained shape data; a step that forms a resist film on a surface of the substrate; a step that determines the supply position from which an organic solvent is to be supplied to a peripheral portion of the resist film and dissolves the peripheral portion by the solvent supplied from the supply position to remove the same from the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2019
    Publication date: September 19, 2019
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Yasuaki NODA, Tadashi Nishiyama
  • Patent number: 10381221
    Abstract: A processing method in one embodiment includes: a step that takes an image of the end face of a reference substrate, whose warp amount is known, over the whole periphery thereof using a camera to obtain shape data of the end face of the reference substrate over the whole periphery of the reference substrate; a step that takes an image of the end face of a substrate over the whole periphery thereof using a camera to obtain shape data of the end face of the substrate over the whole periphery of the substrate; a step that calculates warp amount of the substrate based on the obtained shape data; a step that forms a resist film on a surface of the substrate; a step that determines the supply position from which an organic solvent is to be supplied to a peripheral portion of the resist film and dissolves the peripheral portion by the solvent supplied from the supply position to remove the same from the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Yasuaki Noda, Tadashi Nishiyama
  • Publication number: 20190096730
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes carry in/out station, transfer station, processing station, and image capturing unit. The carry in/out station includes first conveyance device that takes out and conveys substrate from cassette. The transfer station is disposed adjacent to the carry in/out station, and includes substrate placement unit on which the substrate conveyed by the first conveyance device is placed. The processing station is disposed adjacent to the transfer station, and includes second conveyance device that takes out and conveys the substrate from the substrate placement unit, and a plurality of processing units that processes the substrate conveyed by the second conveyance device. The image capturing unit is disposed in the transfer station, and captures an image of the peripheral edge portion of one of the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate and the end surface of the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2018
    Publication date: March 28, 2019
    Inventors: Satoshi Morita, Ryoji Ikebe, Yasuaki Noda, Norihisa Koga, Keisuke Hamamoto, Masato Hosaka
  • Publication number: 20170243738
    Abstract: A processing method in one embodiment includes: a step that takes an image of the end face of a reference substrate, whose warp amount is known, over the whole periphery thereof using a camera to obtain shape data of the end face of the reference substrate over the whole periphery of the reference substrate; a step that takes an image of the end face of a substrate over the whole periphery thereof using a camera to obtain shape data of the end face of the substrate over the whole periphery of the substrate; a step that calculates warp amount of the substrate based on the obtained shape data; a step that forms a resist film on a surface of the substrate; a step that determines the supply position from which an organic solvent is to be supplied to a peripheral portion of the resist film and dissolves the peripheral portion by the solvent supplied from the supply position to remove the same from the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2017
    Publication date: August 24, 2017
    Applicant: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Yasuaki NODA, Tadashi NISHIYAMA
  • Publication number: 20170244936
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a substrate imaging apparatus includes: a rotary holding unit that holds and rotates a substrate; a mirror member having a reflecting surface that opposes an end face of the substrate and a peripheral portion of a back surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, the reflecting surface being inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the rotary holding unit; and a camera having an imaging device that receives both first light and second light through a lens, the first light coming from a peripheral portion of a front surface of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit, and the second light being a reflected light of second light which comes from the end face of the substrate held by the rotary holding unit and is reflected by the reflecting surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2017
    Publication date: August 24, 2017
    Applicant: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Norihisa KOGA, Tadashi NISHIYAMA, Yasuaki NODA
  • Patent number: 8356951
    Abstract: A wet-processing apparatus, which spouts a coating liquid onto a surface of a substrate, includes: nozzles provided with passages for the coating liquid; a light source which illuminates an area between a plane containing the tips of the nozzles and the surface of the substrate; a camera for forming an image of the area; a control unit which provides a spout signal requesting spouting the liquid from the nozzle toward the substrate, and an imaging signal requesting the camera to start an imaging operation; and a decision unit which decides whether or not the liquid was spouted from the nozzle and whether or not changes occurred in the condition of the liquid spouted from the nozzle toward the substrate on the basis of an image formed by the camera and expressing the brightness of the liquid spouted toward the substrate and illuminated by light emitted by the light source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2013
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Yasuaki Noda, Akira Fukutomi, Takafumi Hayama