Work Holders, Or Handling Devices Patents (Class 118/500)
  • Patent number: 10930492
    Abstract: A method for producing a SiC epitaxial wafer using an apparatus including a mounting plate having a recessed accommodation portion and a satellite disposed in the recessed accommodation portion, and configured so that a SiC substrate is placed on an upper surface thereof. The method includes supplying a dopant carrier gas to an outer circumference of the SiC epitaxial wafer from between the recessed accommodation portion and the satellite.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: SHOWA DENKO K.K.
    Inventor: Tatsuya Masuda
  • Patent number: 10903095
    Abstract: Nitrogen gas supplied from the outside of a chamber flows into an annular first buffer to diffuse uniformly along the circumferential direction of a gas ring. The nitrogen gas filled in the first buffer flows into a second buffer with having a volume larger than that of the first buffer to diffuse more uniformly along the circumferential direction of the gas ring. The nitrogen gas filled in the second buffer flows into a labyrinth portion to flow through a bent flow path of the labyrinth portion from the inside toward the outside along the radial direction of the gas ring, so that a flow rate of the nitrogen gas decreases. The nitrogen gas flowing out of the labyrinth portion flows into a discharge flow path, and flows from the outside toward the inside along the radial direction of the gas ring to be discharged from the gas discharge opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: SCREEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Nobuhiko Nishide, Takuya Kamimura
  • Patent number: 10879094
    Abstract: An electrostatic chucking force tool is described that may be used on workpiece carriers for micromechanical and semiconductor processing. One example includes a workpiece fitting to hold a workpiece when gripped by an electrostatic chucking force by an electrostatic chuck, an arm coupled to the workpiece fitting to pull the workpiece through the workpiece fitting laterally across the chuck, and a force gauge coupled to the arm to measure an amount of force with which the workpiece fitting is pulled by the arm in order to move the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Srinivas D. Nemani, Gautam Pisharody, Seshadri Ramaswami, Shambhu N. Roy, Niranjan Kumar
  • Patent number: 10870922
    Abstract: An assembly used in a process chamber for depositing a film on a wafer including a pedestal assembly having a pedestal movably mounted to a main frame. A lift pad rests upon the pedestal and moves with the pedestal. A raising mechanism separates the pad from the pedestal, and includes a hard stop fixed to the main frame, a roller attached to the pedestal assembly, a slide moveably attached to the pedestal assembly, a lift pad bracket interconnected to the slide and a pad shaft extending from the lift pad, a lever rotatably attached to lift pad bracket, a ferroseal assembly surrounding the pad shaft, and a yoke assembly offsetting a moment to the ferroseal assembly when the lever rotates. When the pedestal assembly moves upwards, the lever rotates when engaging with the upper hard stop and roller, and separates the pad from the pedestal by a process rotation displacement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2020
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Paul Konkola, Karl F. Leeser, Easwar Srinivasan
  • Patent number: 10865499
    Abstract: A susceptor for holding a semiconductor wafer during the deposition of an epitaxial layer on a front side of the semiconductor wafer, has a susceptor ring and a susceptor base, and recesses below the susceptor ring in the susceptor base which are arranged in a manner distributed rotationally symmetrically. The radial width of the recesses is greater than the radial width of the susceptor such that the susceptor ring does not completely cover the recesses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2020
    Assignee: SILTRONIC AG
    Inventor: Joerg Haberecht
  • Patent number: 10847401
    Abstract: A wafer holding apparatus includes an electrostatic chuck configured to clamp an object, a baseplate made of aluminum and configured to support the electrostatic chuck, a water pathway portion disposed in contact with or inside the baseplate and made of a metal having higher corrosion resistance than aluminum, and a water pathway disposed inside the water pathway portion and having an entire wall surface thereof constituted by the water pathway portion, wherein the baseplate and the water pathway portion are directly bonded to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignees: SHINKO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES CO., LTD., TOHOKU SEIMITSU CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Norio Shiraiwa, Syuuichi Andou, Kenji Takatsuka, Katsuhiro Kosuga
  • Patent number: 10821465
    Abstract: A spherical core spraying tool comprises a spraying spindle and connecting rods; the spraying spindle is circumferentially provided with a plurality of protruding rings, and is axially provided with a strip-shaped groove; the connecting rods are disposed in the groove; one end of the spraying spindle is a power input end, and the other end is provided with a locking sleeve; the groove runs through the protruding rings. By spot-welding steel balls in an inner hole of a spherical core and fitting the spherical core over the spraying spindle, the steel balls are stuck in the groove of the spraying spindle, and the both sides of the steel balls are tightened by means of the connecting rods in abutting-against fashion, so that a plurality of spherical cores is fixed together with the spraying spindle, and the plurality of spherical cores can be spray-coated simultaneously, thereby improving the efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: WUZHONG INSTRUMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yushan Ma, Jun Li, Zhandong Chang, Yongxing Zhou, Yongxiang Ding, Husheng Li
  • Patent number: 10814547
    Abstract: A method for stereolithography printing, including the steps of positioning a holder containing a printing material in a first position in a stereolithography apparatus; stereolithography printing a plurality of successive layers in said holder using radiation for solidifying the printing material, such that one or more objects are formed; moving said holder from said first position to a second position away from said first position; opening said holder and removing said one or more objects from said opened holder, in said second position of the holder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Xeikon Prepress N.V.
    Inventor: Bart Mark Luc Wattyn
  • Patent number: 10818532
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing section that performs a batch process to a plurality of substrates. A first substrate transport mechanism removes one of substrates contained in a substrate container placed on a stage, and transport the substrate to a position adjusting unit, in which the position of the substrate in the rotating direction of the substrate is adjusted, and transports the substrate back to the substrate container. Then a second substrate transport mechanism collectively removes from the substrate container the substrates whose positions in the rotating direction have been adjusted by the position adjusting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Keiji Onzuka, Kouki Murakami, Hirozumi Hoshino
  • Patent number: 10814488
    Abstract: To hold a long member in the original shape of the long member at a precise position, a long member assembling device has: a plurality of hand parts configured to grip a long member; arm parts and trunk parts configured to move the hand parts to adjust the positions of the plurality of hand parts gripping the long member; a storage unit in which the original shape of the long member is stored; and a control unit configured to, on the basis of the original shape of the long member stored in the storage unit, drive the arm parts and the trunk parts to adjust the positions of the plurality of hand parts gripping the long member such that the shape of the long member gripped by the plurality of hand parts matches the original shape of the long member stored in the storage unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Toshihiro Tombe, Takuya Goto, Takahiro Inagaki, Makoto Hirai, Naoki Goto, Masanobu Mizukami, Katsumi Nakamura
  • Patent number: 10811291
    Abstract: Provided is a wafer container including a frame and at least a pair of the stents. The frame has opposite sidewalls. The at least a pair of the stents is respectively disposed on the sidewalls of the frame, wherein the at least a pair of the stents is configured to provide at least three supporting points to support at least one wafer. A method for holding at least one wafer is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Wei-Kang Liu, Chi-Chung Jen, Jui-Ming Huang, Wan-Ting Liao
  • Patent number: 10799917
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus removes foreign substances from a substrate at high removal efficiency. The substrate processing apparatus includes: a scrubber to perform surface processing of the substrate by bringing a scrubbing member into sliding contact with a first surface of the substrate, a hydrostatic support mechanism for supporting a second surface of the substrate via fluid pressure without contacting the substrate, the second surface being an opposite surface of the first surface, a cleaner to clean the processed substrate, and a dryer to dry the cleaned substrate. The scrubber brings the scrubbing member into sliding contact with the first surface while rotating the scrubbing member about a central axis of the scrubber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignees: EBARA CORPORATION, Toshiba Memory Corporation
    Inventors: Yu Ishii, Hiroyuki Kawasaki, Kenichi Nagaoka, Kenya Ito, Masako Kodera, Hiroshi Tomita, Takeshi Nishioka
  • Patent number: 10804132
    Abstract: A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a transport head that includes a vacuum chuck, the vacuum chuck being configured to vacuum-hold light-emitting element chips; and a vacuum pump that is configured to provide a vacuum pressure to the transport head, wherein the vacuum chuck includes a porous material layer and a buffer layer on the porous material layer, and the buffer layer includes a plurality of protrusions and vacuum holes, the vacuum holes extending from a surface of the buffer layer that contacts the porous material layer to lower surfaces of the protrusions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kyoung-jun Kim, Si-han Kim, Tae-hyun Lee
  • Patent number: 10804117
    Abstract: A method of aligning semiconductor dies having metallic bumps in a mold chase for further processing. A plurality of semiconductor dies are placed in the mold chase at approximately desired locations for further processing. A plurality of magnets in a retainer are associated with the mold chase, the plurality of magnets being associated with respective ones of the plurality of semiconductor dies. The magnetic field of the magnets is applied to align and hold the plurality of dies at the desired location. The plurality of magnets may be adjustably mounted in the retainer so that they can be adjusted to more precisely align the semiconductor dies at the desired locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Digvijay Ashokkumar Raorane, Ravindranath V. Mahajan
  • Patent number: 10796932
    Abstract: Disclosed is a plasma processing device that provides an object to be treated with plasma treatment. A wafer as an object to be treated, which is attached on the upper surface of adhesive sheet held by a holder frame, is mounted on a stage. In a vacuum chamber that covers the stage therein, plasma is generated, by which the wafer mounted on the stage undergoes plasma treatment. The plasma processing device contains a cover member made of dielectric material. During the plasma treatment on the wafer, the holder frame is covered with a cover member placed at a predetermined position above the stage, at the same time, the wafer is exposed from an opening formed in the center of the cover member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tetsuhiro Iwai
  • Patent number: 10788744
    Abstract: A processing system includes: a vacuum chamber; a plurality of processing sub-systems attached around the vacuum chamber; and a wafer handling system in the vacuum chamber for moving the wafer among the plurality of processing systems without exiting from a vacuum. A physical vapor deposition system for manufacturing an extreme ultraviolet blank comprising: a target comprising molybdenum, molybdenum alloy, or a combination thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Ralf Hofmann, Cara Beasley, Majeed Foad
  • Patent number: 10787847
    Abstract: A hinge assembly for mounting a door to a frame of a motor vehicle includes (a) a hinge bracket, having a first receiver and a second receiver, (b) a hinge pin pivotally connecting the door to the hinge bracket at the first receiver, (c) an actuator, having an output shaft, (d) a retention feature, connecting the output shaft to the hinge bracket at the second receiver, and (e) an actuator mounting feature securing the actuator to the door. A method of assembling an actuator in a hinge assembly that mounts a door to a frame of a motor vehicle is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Larry Dean Elie, Gerald J. Heath, John Wayne Jaranson, Michael Musa Azzouz, Jeff Wallace, Robert F. Novak, Timothy J. Potter
  • Patent number: 10770336
    Abstract: A substrate support assembly suitable for use in a reactor including a common processing and substrate transfer region is disclosed. The substrate support assembly includes a susceptor and one or more lift pins that can be used to lower a substrate onto a surface of the susceptor and raise the substrate from the surface, to allow transfer of the substrate from the processing region, without raising or lowering the susceptor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: ASM IP Holding B.V.
    Inventors: Eric Hill, John DiSanto
  • Patent number: 10763154
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a flexible support to aid in a measurement of flatness of a susceptor. The flexible support has a first support block having a substantially flat upper surface and a lower surface having a first aperture formed therein. The flexible support further has a second support block having a substantially flat lower surface and an upper surface having a second aperture formed therein. The flexible support further has a support pin configured to be receivable in the first aperture and the second aperture, the support pin configured to retain the first support block and the second support block in a spaced apart relation while allowing restricted motion of the first support block relative to the second support block via deformation of the support pin. The flexible support further has a guide disposed between the first support block and the second support block, the guide configured to allow the first support block and the second support block to move axially relative to the guide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Ying Ma, Yixi Tian, Shih Chang Chen, Jin Sun, Rodolfo Perez, Stanley Wu
  • Patent number: 10761517
    Abstract: A network interface controller for a communication network of a substrate processing system includes a data collection module configured to monitor a communication bus to retrieve and store data frames transmitted between components of the substrate processing system. A user interface is configured to receive inputs for configuring extraction of data from the data frames. A data processing module is configured to store, based on a network configuration file, a map correlating data within the data frames to of the components of the substrate processing system, extract data from the data frames in accordance with the inputs received by the user interface and the map, and provide, to the user interface, the data as extracted from the data frames. The user interface is further configured to display the data as extracted from the data frames in accordance with the inputs received by the user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Behzad Lajevardi, Willie Ku, Tom Trinh, Henry Chan
  • Patent number: 10752997
    Abstract: Ultrasonic spray deposition (USD) used to deposit a base layer on the substrate, followed by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) to introduce a binder phase that creates a composite coating with good adherence of the binder to the initial phase particles and adherence of the composite coating to the substrate, is disclosed. We have used this process to create coatings consisting of cubic boron nitride (cBN), deposited using USD, and titanium nitride (TiN) applied using CVI in various embodiments. This process can be used with many materials not usable with other processes, including nitrides, carbides, carbonitrides, borides, oxides, sulphides and silicides. In addition, other binding or post-deposition treatment processes can be applied as alternatives to CVI, depending on the substrate, the coating materials, and the application requirements of the coating. Coatings can be applied to a variety of substrates including those with complex geometries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: P&S Global Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Wenping Jiang, Justin B. Lowrey, Robert T. Fink
  • Patent number: 10742092
    Abstract: A transport apparatus including a housing, a drive mounted to the housing, and at least one transport arm connected to the drive, where the drive includes at least one rotor having at least one salient pole of magnetic permeable material and disposed in an isolated environment, at least one stator having at least one salient pole with corresponding coil units and disposed outside the isolated environment where the at least one salient pole of the at least one stator and the at least one salient pole of the rotor form a closed magnetic flux circuit between the at least one rotor and the at least one stator, at least one seal partition configured to isolate the isolated environment, and at least one sensor including a magnetic sensor member connected to the housing, at least one sensor track connected to the at least one rotor where the at least one seal partition is disposed between and separates the magnetic sensor member and the at least one sensor track so that the at least one sensor track is disposed in t
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: BROOKS AUTOMATION, INC.
    Inventors: Jairo T. Moura, Reza Saeidpourazar, Branden Gunn, Matthew W. Coady, Ulysses Gilchrist
  • Patent number: 10736246
    Abstract: An electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding can be couplable to a circuit board. The EMI shielding can include a fence couplable to the circuit board, a lid couplable to the fence, and a shield arm extending from the lid and being configured to couple to the fence. The shield arm can be hingedly or rotatably coupled to the lid. The shield arm can be magnetically couplable to the lid. The shield arm and/or the fence can include a magnet to provide a magnetic attraction between the shield arm and the fence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jaejin Lee, Chung-Hao Chen, Hao-Han Hsu, Xiang Li, Jun Liao
  • Patent number: 10727074
    Abstract: A method for thinning a wafer is provided. The method includes placing a wafer on a support assembly and securing an etching mask to a backside of the wafer. The etching mask covers a peripheral portion of the wafer. The method further includes performing a wet etching process on the backside of the wafer to form a thinned wafer, and the thinned wafer includes peripheral portions having a first thickness and a central portion having a second thickness smaller than the first thickness. A system for forming the thinned wafer is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chien Ling Hwang, Bor-Ping Jang, Hsin-Hung Liao, Chung-Shi Liu
  • Patent number: 10679862
    Abstract: Provided are a contactless electric power supply mechanism and method for a rotary table, and a wafer rotating and holding device, which enable a load connected to the rotary table of the wafer rotating and holding device to be contactlessly supplied with electric power. The contactless electric power supply mechanism for a rotary table of a wafer rotating and holding device comprises: a rotary shaft; a rotary table, which is placed on an end of the rotary shaft, and is configured to hold a wafer on an upper surface of the rotary table; a drive motor configured to supply motive power to the rotary shaft; a fixed-side primary coil wound around the rotary shaft; an electric power supply source connected to the fixed-side primary coil; a rotary table-side secondary coil, which is provided so as to correspond to the fixed-side primary coil and be separated from the fixed-side primary coil by a predetermined distance, and is mounted to the rotary table; and a load connected to the rotary table-side secondary coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: MIMASU SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masato Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 10654150
    Abstract: A grinding disk and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The grinding disk includes a graphite base and a silicon carbide film, the silicon carbide film covering the graphite base, and the silicon carbide film has a surface grain size of 5 ?m to 80 ?m. By a hot-wall chemical vapor deposition system, a highly dense silicon carbide film is formed on a surface of the graphite base. The grinding disk may replace a conventional metallographic grinding and polishing disk, and is improved in characteristics such as hydrophobicity and abrasion resistance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
    Inventors: Wei-Chien Tsai, Hao-Wen Cheng, Jin-Bao Wu, Ming-Sheng Leu
  • Patent number: 10655224
    Abstract: A semiconductor system includes a chamber, a pedestal disposed in the chamber, and a focus ring that surrounds the pedestal. The pedestal has a center region for supporting a central region of a substrate, e.g., a wafer. The focus ring is configured to surround the center region of the pedestal. The focus ring has an annular support region that extends between an inner portion of the focus ring and an outer portion of the focus ring. The annular support region, which is disposed at an angle relative to a horizontal line, provides a knife-edge contact for the substrate when present over the center region of the pedestal and the annular support region of the focus ring. The knife-edge contact between the edge of the substrate and the annular support region of the focus ring disables chemical access to the substrate backside and thereby reduces unwanted backside deposition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Pulkit Agarwal, Ishtak Karim, Purushottam Kumar, Adrien LaVoie, Sung Je Kim, Patrick Breiling
  • Patent number: 10648079
    Abstract: A process chamber for depositing a film on a wafer is provided, including: a pedestal having, a central top surface having a plurality of wafer supports configured to support the wafer at a support level above the central top surface, an annular surface at a step down from the central top surface; a carrier ring configured to be supported by carrier ring supports such that a bottom surface of the carrier ring is at a first vertical separation above the annular surface, the carrier ring having a step down surface defined relative to a top surface; wherein when the carrier ring is seated on the carrier ring supports, then the step down surface of the carrier ring is positioned at a process level that is at a second vertical separation from the support level over the top surface of the pedestal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Chloe Baldasseroni, Andrew Duvall, Ryan Blaquiere, Shankar Swaminathan
  • Patent number: 10612136
    Abstract: A flange, flange assembly, and reactor system including the flange and flange assembly are disclosed. An exemplary flange assembly includes heated and cooled sections to independently control temperatures of sections of the flange. Methods of using the flange, flange assembly and reactor system are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: ASM IP HOLDING, B.V.
    Inventors: Sonti Sreeram, John Tolle, Joe Margetis, Junwei Su
  • Patent number: 10601346
    Abstract: An electrostatic chuck and an electrostatic adsorption apparatus are provided. According to one or more exemplary embodiments, an electrostatic chuck includes: a main body portion including a body portion provided with a through-hole, and a transparent resin portion filled in the through-hole; a transparent cushion layer on the main body portion and covering the transparent resin portion; an electrode layer on the transparent cushion layer; and a dielectric layer on the electrode layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Min Ho Bae, Byung-Moo Kim, Yun Soo Kim, Tae-Ho Youn
  • Patent number: 10593570
    Abstract: According to the present disclosure, there is provided a substrate holding module that is capable of accommodating a substrate transferred by a transfer robot. The substrate holding module includes a pedestal including a holding mechanism configured to hold the substrate, a cover configured to cover the pedestal, and a moving mechanism configured to move the cover away from the pedestal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Akihiro Yazawa, Kenichi Kobayashi, Kenichi Akazawa
  • Patent number: 10580620
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a plasma chamber design that allows extremely symmetrical electrical, thermal, and gas flow conductance through the chamber. By providing such symmetry, plasma formed within the chamber naturally has improved uniformity across the surface of a substrate disposed in a processing region of the chamber. Further, other chamber additions, such as providing the ability to manipulate the gap between upper and lower electrodes as well as between a gas inlet and a substrate being processed, allows better control of plasma processing and uniformity as compared to conventional systems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: James D. Carducci, Hamid Tavassoli, Ajit Balakrishna, Zhigang Chen, Andrew Nguyen, Douglas A. Buchberger, Jr., Kartik Ramaswamy, Shahid Rauf, Kenneth S. Collins
  • Patent number: 10570515
    Abstract: An assembly used in a process chamber for depositing a film on a wafer including a pedestal assembly having a pedestal movably mounted to a main frame. A lift pad rests upon the pedestal and moves with the pedestal. A raising mechanism separates the pad from the pedestal, and includes a hard stop fixed to the main frame, a roller attached to the pedestal assembly, a slide moveably attached to the pedestal assembly, a lift pad bracket interconnected to the slide and a pad shaft extending from the lift pad, a lever rotatably attached to lift pad bracket, a ferroseal assembly surrounding the pad shaft, and a yoke assembly offsetting a moment to the ferroseal assembly when the lever rotates. When the pedestal assembly moves upwards, the lever rotates when engaging with the upper hard stop and roller, and separates the pad from the pedestal by a process rotation displacement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Paul Konkola, Karl F. Leeser, Easwar Srinivasan
  • Patent number: 10570753
    Abstract: A fixture for masking a gas turbine engine blade, the blade having a root, a platform and an airfoil, the platform having inner and outer surfaces and peripheral faces extending between the surfaces, the fixture including a base with a receptacle for receiving the root of the blade; a removable sidewall mountable to the base to form a masking box with the receptacle that shields the root; a first removable Z plane detail mountable to the base, the first removable Z plane detail providing a first electrical contact point to the root; and a second removable Z plane detail mountable to the removable sidewall, the second removable Z plane detail providing a second electrical contact point to the root.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Frank J. Trzcinski, Andrew Cervoni, Scott A. Elliott
  • Patent number: 10573498
    Abstract: Embodiments of a method and apparatus for annealing a substrate are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a substrate support includes a substrate support pedestal having an upper surface to support a substrate and an opposing bottom surface, wherein the substrate support pedestal is formed of a material that is transparent to radiation; a lamp assembly disposed below the substrate support pedestal and having a plurality of lamps configured to heat the substrate; a pedestal support extending through the lamp assembly to support the substrate support pedestal in a spaced apart relation to the plurality of lamps; a shaft coupled to a second end of the pedestal support opposite the first end; and a rotation assembly coupled to the shaft opposite the pedestal support to rotate the shaft, the pedestal support, and the substrate support pedestal with respect to the lamp assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Bharath Swaminathan, Hanbing Wu, John Mazzocco
  • Patent number: 10549452
    Abstract: A package substrate cutting jig table for use in cutting a package substrate is provided. The jig table includes a jig base and a holding member adapted to be detachably mounted on the jig base. The holding member includes a holding surface for holding the package substrate, a plurality of escape grooves formed on the holding surface for preventing the interference of a cutting blade with the holding member, the escape grooves corresponding to a plurality of division lines formed on the package substrate, and a plurality of suction holes formed in a plurality of separate regions defined by the escape grooves on the holding surface. The holding member is formed of a material having a dynamic viscoelastic modulus ranging from 0.16 to 0.41.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: DISCO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomohiro Kaneko, Norihisa Arifuku
  • Patent number: 10550464
    Abstract: A circular PVD chamber has a plurality of sputtering targets mounted on a top wall of the chamber. A pallet in the chamber is coupled to a motor for rotating the pallet about its center axis. The pallet has a diameter less than the diameter of the circular chamber. The pallet is also shiftable in an XY direction to move the center of the pallet beneath any of the targets so all areas of a workpiece supported by the pallet can be positioned directly below any one of the targets. A scanning magnet is in back of each target and is moved, via a programmed controller, to only be above portions of the workpiece so that no sputtered material is wasted. For depositing a material onto small workpieces, a cooling backside gas volume is created between the pallet and the underside of sticky tape supporting the workpieces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: Tango Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Ravi Mullapudi, Harish Varma Penmethsa, Harshal T. Vasa, Srikanth Dasaradhi, Lee LaBlanc
  • Patent number: 10535487
    Abstract: A first member made of an insulating material and a jig with a protrusion narrowing toward a distal end side are prepared, and at least one of the first member and the jig is heated to a temperature at which the first member can melt and deform. After the jig is brought into contact with the first member with the first member and the plurality of protrusions facing each other, the jig is removed, and an intermediate body is formed including the first member formed with a plurality of recesses, and a plurality of conductive members passing through the first member and projecting into the recesses. A second member is prepared, openings of the plurality of recesses are closed, and the second member is hermetically joined to the intermediate body to form a plurality of internal spaces where electron is emitted, and forming a joined body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2020
    Assignee: HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K.
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Kodama, Yasuyuki Kohno, Shinichi Hara, Kazuto Ohashi
  • Patent number: 10529577
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a device of changing the gas flow pattern in the process chamber and a wafer processing method and system; a gas introduced from the gas inlet to the process chamber will process the wafer in the process chamber; a gas center ring is set in the process chamber to adjust the gas flow pattern, which includes a fixed component under the gas inlet and above the wafer, and a movable ring could locate in the first position or the second position respectively; when the movable ring is in the first position, the gas is delivered downwards to the wafer via the first opening set on the fixed component; when the movable ring is in the second position, the gas is delivered downwards to the wafer via the second opening set on the movable ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: ADVANCED MICRO-FABRICATION EQUIPMENT INC. CHINA
    Inventors: TuQiang Ni, ZhiLin Huang
  • Patent number: 10519547
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a susceptor for thermal processing of semiconductor substrates. In one embodiment, the susceptor includes a first rim, an inner region coupled to and surrounded by the first rim, and one or more annular protrusions formed on the inner region. The one or more annular protrusions may be formed on the inner region at a location corresponding to the location where a valley is formed on the substrate, and the one or more annular protrusions help reduce or eliminate the formation of the valley.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Karthik Ramanathan, Kartik Shah, Nyi O. Myo, Schubert S. Chu, Jeffrey Tobin, Errol Antonio C. Sanchez, Palamurali Gajendra
  • Patent number: 10502639
    Abstract: A plate-shaped body for temperature measurement which, simply by being mounted on a mounting surface of an electrostatic chuck apparatus and without using a semiconductor wafer itself, is able to easily optimize the in-plane temperature distribution of the mounting surface of the electrostatic chuck apparatus, the temperature rising characteristics, and the cooling characteristics during decreases in temperature. In such plate-shaped body for temperature measurement (1), an insulating adhesive (3) is bonded to the entirety of a surface (2a) of a wafer (2), a heater element (4) is provided on the insulating adhesive (3), a temperature measurement region (5) is provided used to measure the temperature of the surface (2a) of the wafer (2) in a region excluding the heater element (4) on the surface (3a) of the insulating adhesive (3), and the heater element (4) and the temperature measurement region (5) are coated with an insulating film (6).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: SUMITOMO OSAKA CEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Mamoru Kosakai, Kazunori Ishimura, Takeshi Watanabe, Hitoshi Kouno, Ryuuji Hayahara
  • Patent number: 10494737
    Abstract: The SiC epitaxial wafer-producing apparatus according to the invention includes a mounting plate having a concave accommodation portion, a satellite that is provided in the concave accommodation portion and has an upper surface on which a SiC substrate is placed, and a carbon member that is provided in the concave accommodation portion at a position which is lower than the SiC substrate and does not come into contact with the SiC substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: SHOWA DENKO K.K.
    Inventors: Jun Norimatsu, Akira Miyasaka, Yoshiaki Kageshima
  • Patent number: 10486903
    Abstract: A first guiding body and a second guiding body are arranged in a positional relationship according to which the position in the vertical direction of the upper end portion of a first movement path of a first moving body and the position in the vertical direction of the lower end portion of a second movement path of a second moving body are overlapped with each other. The first moving body includes a first transfer apparatus, and the second moving body includes a second transfer apparatus. Relay support platforms that can support articles are arranged at positions that are not overlapped with the first movement path or the second movement path, and that enable the articles to be transferred from both the first transfer apparatus and the second transfer apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Daifiki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideo Yoshioka, Kenichi Tanaka, Ryoji Morishita
  • Patent number: 10480095
    Abstract: A system and methods are provided for low temperature, rapid baking to remove impurities from a semiconductor surface prior to in-situ deposition. The system is configured with an upper bank of heat elements perpendicular to the gas flow path, such that when the substrate is heated, the temperature across the substrate can be maintained relatively uniform via zoned heating. Advantageously, a short, low temperature process is suitable for advanced, high density circuits with shallow junctions. Furthermore, throughput is greatly improved by the low temperature bake.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: ASM America, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael W. Halpin, Paul T. Jacobson
  • Patent number: 10479594
    Abstract: In a cable packaging system and method a retainer within a container retains coiled cables in a preferred orientation, such as a vertical orientation, with the coil axis of the coiled cable directed longitudinally toward sidewalls of the container and a diameter line of a plane defined by the coil directed toward the top and bottom of the container. The retainer may include a resilient material, such as a foam material, to allow insertion of a coiled cable and return at least partially to a neutral, pre-insertion, position to thereby engage and retain the coiled cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Inventor: Sean P. Kelly
  • Patent number: 10438834
    Abstract: A pin control method includes: measuring respective height positions of a plurality of pins, which is vertically driven respectively by a plurality of driving units while supporting a substrate; selecting a reference pin, which serves as a reference for speed control, from the plurality of pins using the measured height positions of the plurality of pins; estimating, with respect to the selected reference pin, a reference height position, which is a height position after a predetermined time has passed since the height positions of the plurality of pins were measured; calculating an adjustment speed for making the height positions of the pins other than the reference pin match with the estimated reference height position; controlling the driving units, which drive the other pins, to adjust driving speeds of the other pins to the adjustment speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Shin Matsuura, Masato Horiguchi
  • Patent number: 10431486
    Abstract: The invention relates to wafer aligning device (1) and a corresponding method for aligning a wafer (2) into a specified rotational angular position (as), having a wafer table (20) with a table receiving area (30) for receiving the wafer (2) on a table receiving area plane (T) and having an aligning means (40) with an aligning receiving area (50) which is designed to align the wafer (2) into a specified rotational angular position. The aligning receiving area (50) is arranged in an aligning position (PA) above the table receiving area plane (T) of the wafer table (20) when receiving the wafer (2), and at least one of the aligning receiving area (50) and the table receiving area (30) is designed to place a wafer (2) received in the aligning receiving area (50) on the table receiving area (30) upon traversing the aligning receiving area (50) and the table receiving area plane (T) by means of a vertical movement relative to the other of the aligning receiving area (50) and the table receiving area (30).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: MUETEC AUTOMOTIVE MIKROSKOPIE UND MESSTECHNIK GMBH
    Inventor: Josef Ammerl
  • Patent number: 10425990
    Abstract: A vacuum processing apparatus according to this invention includes a heating unit arranged to face a processing surface of a substrate supported by a substrate support unit in a vacuum chamber, a cooling unit arranged to face a reverse surface of the substrate supported by the substrate support unit, a temperature correction unit configured to correct a temperature of a periphery of the substrate in order to reduce a temperature difference between a central portion and the periphery of the substrate by being arranged in a predetermined position between the substrate and the cooling unit when the heating unit heats the substrate, and a correction unit moving device configured to retract the temperature correction unit from the predetermined position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: CANON ANELVA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hidehiro Yasukawa, Masahiro Sugihara
  • Patent number: 10424496
    Abstract: An upper end of a tubular member surrounding a common pipe line is closed by a lid member. The lid member has an opening formed therein for supplying liquids to adjacent the rotation center on the back surface of a wafer. Deionized water supplied at normal temperature to the interior of the tubular member, after serving to cool the common pipe line, flows out of a lower end of the tubular member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masafumi Inoue, Akiyoshi Nakano, Kurumi Yagi
  • Patent number: 10403521
    Abstract: A substrate heater for a substrate processing chamber which includes a substrate support for a substrate processing chamber which includes a body having a top plate with a substrate receiving surface, and a movable heater disposed in the body, the heater being movable relative to the top plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Gangadhar Sheelavant, Cariappa Achappa Baduvamanda