With Defect Discrimination Circuitry Patents (Class 250/559.45)
  • Patent number: 12019370
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a photoresist layer comprising a photoresist composition over a substrate to form a photoresist-coated substrate. The photoresist layer is selectively exposed to actinic radiation to form a latent pattern in the photoresist layer. The latent pattern is developed by applying a developer to the selectively exposed photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist layer exposing a portion of the substrate, and a purge gas is applied to the patterned photoresist layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2024
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Wei-Han Huang, Hao Yuan Chang, Yao-Hwan Kao
  • Patent number: 11953314
    Abstract: A bump inspection device images a wafer that includes a plurality of bumps arranged in parallel to each other. Each of the bumps is elongated along a first direction that is along a substrate surface. The bump inspection device includes: a laser-light source that emits laser light in a direction that is inclined relative to the substrate surface; a camera that images the substrate surface onto which the laser light is emitted; and a direction adjusting portion that adjusts an arrangement relation between the direction in which the laser light is emitted and an orientation of the wafer to allow the first direction to become inclined relative to the direction in which the laser light is emitted, in a plan view. The camera images the wafer while the first direction is inclined relative to the direction in which the laser light is emitted, in a plan view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: NIDEC READ CORPORATION
    Inventors: Alexsandr Juk, Alain Ross, Takashi Miyasaka, Takeya Tsukamoto, Shigeya Kikuta
  • Patent number: 11946863
    Abstract: Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) can be used to interrogate a surface of a sample such as a layered semiconductor structure. The SHG based sample interrogation systems may simultaneously collect different polarization components of the SHG signal at a time to provide different types of information. SHG imaging systems can provide SHG images or maps of the distribution of SHG signals over a larger area of a sample. Some such SHG imaging systems employ multiple beams and multiple detectors to capture SHG signals over an area of the sample. Some SHG imaging systems employ imaging optics to image the sample onto a detector array to form SHG images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: FemtoMetrix, Inc.
    Inventor: Ming Lei
  • Patent number: 11906446
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method of inspecting a surface including detecting a presence or absence of a defect derived from a surface irregularity part of a planar inspection object to be conveyed in a predetermined direction, using a change in intensity of inspection light, the inspection light including at least two inspection lights that are parallel to a surface of the inspection object in a side view of the inspection object and pass over the surface of the inspection object or through the inspection object in a direction intersecting the conveyance direction in a plan view of the inspection object, the two inspection lights being non-parallel to each other in the plan view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Sanshiro Sakamoto
  • Patent number: 11874233
    Abstract: In a method for imaging a container holding a sample, the container is illuminated with a laser sheet of a first color, and one or more images of the container are capturing by a first imager configured to filter out colors other than the first color. Simultaneously with illuminating the container with the laser sheet of the first color, the container is illuminated with light of a second color different than the first color, wherein the light of the second color illuminates at least a majority of an entire volume of the container. One or more additional imagers of the container are captured by a second imager configured to filter out colors other than the second color. The one or more images and the one or more additional images are analyzed to detect particles within, and/or on an exterior surface of, the container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: AMGEN INC.
    Inventors: Thomas Clark Pearson, Graham F. Milne, Dmitry Fradkin, Erwin Freund
  • Patent number: 11683923
    Abstract: A maintenance management device comprises: an inspection device configured to inspect an exchangeable element in a component mounting machine configured to mount a component on a circuit board; and an information management section configured to store statistical information in which results of multiple inspections with the inspection device are linked to identification information for each of multiple exchangeable elements targeted for inspection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: FUJI CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kazumi Hoshikawa
  • Patent number: 11585652
    Abstract: A bump inspection device images a wafer that includes a plurality of bumps arranged in parallel to each other. Each of the bumps is elongated along a first direction that is along a substrate surface. The bump inspection device includes: a laser-light source that emits laser light in a direction that is inclined relative to the substrate surface; a camera that images the substrate surface onto which the laser light is emitted; and a direction adjusting portion that adjusts an arrangement relation between the direction in which the laser light is emitted and an orientation of the wafer to allow the first direction to become inclined relative to the direction in which the laser light is emitted, in a plan view. The camera images the wafer while the first direction is inclined relative to the direction in which the laser light is emitted, in a plan view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: NIDEC READ CORPORATION
    Inventors: Alexsandr Juk, Alain Ross, Takashi Miyasaka, Takeya Tsukamoto, Shigeya Kikuta
  • Patent number: 11573307
    Abstract: The invention relates to an optical acquisition device (3) for a motor vehicle (1), having a housing (8) of the optical acquisition device (3), in which a light source unit (10) of the optical acquisition device (3) is arranged, wherein light beams (6) can be emitted by means of the light source unit (10) through a housing part (9) of the housing (8) into surroundings (4) of the motor vehicle (1), wherein the optical acquisition device (3) comprises a checking unit (16), by means of which a functional state of the housing (8) is checkable, and if an actual functional state of the housing (8) deviating from a reference functional state of the housing (8) is detected, a control signal can be generated. The invention furthermore relates to a motor vehicle (1) and a method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GmbH
    Inventors: Gunnar Busse, Andreas Reichert
  • Patent number: 11556106
    Abstract: An object of the present subject matter is to appropriately acquire and analyze a camera image for monitoring and to constantly monitor a monitoring target with high accuracy. A programmable logic controller (PLC) includes: an image processing section for sequentially acquiring the image data of the camera image from the camera sensor and generating characteristic amount data indicating a characteristic amount of image data in a preset monitoring region; a time-series data acquisition section for sequentially collecting characteristic amount data from the image processing section and acquiring time-series data of a characteristic amount; and a monitoring section for monitoring time-series data of a current characteristic amount acquired by the time-series data acquisition section in accordance with a monitoring timing defined by the device of the device memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: KEYENCE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tetsuya Miyasaka
  • Patent number: 11428947
    Abstract: A super-resolution holographic microscope includes a light source configured to emit input light, a diffraction grating configured to split the input light into first diffracted light and second diffracted light, a mirror configured to reflect the first diffracted light, a wafer stage arranged on an optical path of the second diffracted light and on which a wafer is configured to be arranged, and a camera configured to receive the first diffracted light that is reflected by the mirror and the second diffracted light that is reflected by the wafer to generate a plurality of hologram images of the wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Myungjun Lee, Seungbeom Park, Jaehyeon Son, Jaehwang Jung, Taewan Kim, Kyungwon Yun
  • Patent number: 11353857
    Abstract: A data analyzer includes a data collector that acquires data on each analysis target parameter of each of a plurality of apparatuses from the apparatus, the plurality of apparatuses including a light source apparatus, an exposure apparatus that exposes a wafer to pulsed light outputted from the light source apparatus, and a wafer inspection apparatus that inspects the exposed wafer, an image generator that visualizes the data on each of the parameters collected by the data collector from the apparatuses that process the wafer for each predetermined area of the wafer to convert the data into an image and generates a plurality of mapped images for each of the parameters of the apparatuses, and a correlation computing section that performs pattern matching on arbitrary ones of the mapped images generated from the wafer to determine a correlation value between arbitrary ones of the parameters of the apparatuses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Yutaka Igarashi, Yuji Minegishi, Osamu Wakabayashi
  • Patent number: 11340184
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for inspecting cooling holes in an engine component can include a cover that is placed over the engine component and positioned proximate at least some of the cooling holes. A fluid is passed through the engine component to exhaust out of the cooling holes and impinge upon the cover. Analysis of the signature of the fluid impinging on the cover can be used to determine operation of the cooling holes with comparison of the signature to a reference signature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Jeremy Clyde Bailey, Pepe Palafox
  • Patent number: 11320732
    Abstract: A method of measuring a critical dimension comprises determining matrix information on a hypothesized parameter distribution on the critical dimension; obtaining a measurement spectrum for each wavelength of a light reflected from the three-dimensional structure; sampling a first candidate parameter vector for determining a numerical simulation spectrum that approximates the measurement spectrum; linearly transforming the first candidate parameter vector by using the matrix information; determining a first candidate parameter which minimizes a difference between the measurement spectrum and the numerical simulation spectrum within the linearly transformed first candidate parameter vector; determining a second candidate parameter vector derived from the first candidate parameter and having the hypothesized parameter distribution by using a heuristic algorithm; determining a second candidate parameter that minimizes a difference between the measurement spectrum and the numerical simulation spectrum within the s
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignees: SK hynix Inc, IUCF-HYU (Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University)
    Inventors: Chuljin Park, Hyungjin Kim
  • Patent number: 11321823
    Abstract: Method and system for determining sealing integrity and/or contamination of the sealing region by the filling material of a heat-sealed container, including imaging at least a part of a sealing region of the container using an imaging camera; wherein the imaging is performed during movement and/or transport of the container at a predetermined speed; and wherein the imaging is performed while moving the field of view of the camera in a same direction as the container, wherein the moving of the field of view is configured to reduce the velocity of the container relative to the imaging camera sufficiently to reduce smearing of images obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: YORAN IMAGING LTD.
    Inventors: Yoav Weinstein, Eran Sinbar
  • Patent number: 11263741
    Abstract: Implementations of the disclosure provide methods for generating an in-die reference for die-to-die defect detection techniques. The inspection methods using in-die reference comprise finding similar blocks of a lithographic mask, the similar blocks are defined by similar CAD information. A comparison distance is selected based on (i) areas of the similar blocks and (ii) spatial relationships between the similar blocks. The similar blocks are aggregated, based on the comparison distance, to provide multiple aggregated areas; and comparable regions of the lithographic mask are defined based on the multiple aggregate blocks. Images of at least some of the comparable regions of the lithographic mask are acquired using an inspection module. The acquired images are compared.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Applied Materials Israel Ltd.
    Inventors: Boaz Cohen, Gadi Greenberg, Sivan Lifschitz, Shay Attal, Oded O. Dassa, Ziv Parizat
  • Patent number: 11256967
    Abstract: A system is disclosed, in accordance with one or more embodiment of the present disclosure. The system may include a controller including one or more processors configured to execute a set of program instructions. The set of program instructions may be configured to cause the processors to: receive images of a sample from a characterization sub-system; identify target clips from patch clips; prepare processed clips based on the target clips; generate encoded images by transforming the processed clips; sort the encoded images into a set of clusters; display sorted images from the set of clusters; receive labels for the displayed sorted images; determine whether the received labels are sufficient to train a deep learning classifier; and upon determining the received labels are sufficient to train the deep learning classifier, train the deep learning classifier via the displayed sorted images and the received labels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: KLA Corporation
    Inventors: Bradley Ries, Tommaso Torelli, Muthukrishnan Sankar, Vineethanand Hariharan
  • Patent number: 11176674
    Abstract: A system and method for operating a robotic system to register unrecognized objects is disclosed. The robotic system may use first image data representative of an unrecognized object located at a start location to derive an initial minimum viable region (MVR) and to implement operations for initially displacing the unrecognized object. The robotic system may analyze second image data representative of the unrecognized object after the initial displacement operations to detect a condition representative of an accuracy of the initial MVR. The robotic system may register the initial MVR or an adjustment thereof based on the detected condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: MUJIN, Inc.
    Inventors: Rosen Nikolaev Diankov, Russell Islam, Xutao Ye
  • Patent number: 11105740
    Abstract: Systems and methods for optical inspection of a sample are provided. Radiation scattered from the sample includes a first portion having a first polarization state and a second portion having a second polarization state that is a mirror image of the first polarization state. The first polarization state of the first portion of the scattered radiation is transposed using a polarizing mirroring device so that the scattered radiation output from the polarizing mirroring device has substantially the second polarization state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials Israel Ltd.
    Inventors: Amir Shoham, Binyamin Kirshner, David Goldovsky, Nitzan Chamiel
  • Patent number: 11084091
    Abstract: A system for detecting a 3D printing error is described. The system comprising an image capturing device for generating at least one image of a first 3D print job creating an object and at least one image of a second 3D print job. The second 3D print job is creating the same object as the first 3D print job. The system also comprises an error detection module for comparing the at least one image of the second 3D print job to the at least one first image of the first 3D print job. The error detection module then triggers an error signal if a difference between the at least one image of the second 3D job and the at least one first image of the first 3D print job exceeds a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Inventor: William Makinen
  • Patent number: 11073472
    Abstract: A characterization apparatus including pattern generation. The characterization apparatus is configured to characterize a specimen and/or a specimen container in some embodiments. The characterization apparatus includes an imaging location configured to receive a specimen container containing a specimen, one or more image capture devices located at one or more viewpoints adjacent to the imaging location, and one or more light panel assemblies including pattern generation capability located adjacent to the imaging location and configured to provide back lighting. Methods of imaging a specimen and/or specimen container using the pattern generation are described herein, as are other aspects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2021
    Assignee: Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc.
    Inventors: Patrick Wissmann, Ludwig Listl, Benjamin S. Pollack
  • Patent number: 11002638
    Abstract: A magnetoscop inspection system includes a magnetoscop, a computed tomography unit, and a corrosion model unit. The magnetoscop measures a permeability at a plurality of inspection points of a turbine component. The computed tomography unit generates a measured profile of a hollowed portion of the turbine component based at least in part on the permeability at the measured inspection points. The corrosion model unit stores in memory at least one reference computed tomography profile of a known turbine component. The magnetoscop inspection system determines a structural integrity of the turbine component based on a comparison between the measured profile and the reference profile corresponding to the turbine component currently under inspection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Assignee: RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Zhong Ouyang, Andrew DeBiccari, William J. Brindley, Xuan Liu
  • Patent number: 10964016
    Abstract: A best optical inspection mode to detect defects can be determined when no defect examples or only a limited number of defect examples are available. A signal for a defect of interest at the plurality of sites and for the plurality of modes can be determined using electromagnetic simulation. A ratio of the signal for the defect of interest to the noise at each combination of the plurality of sites and the plurality of modes can be determined. A mode with optimized signal-to-noise characteristics can be determined based on the ratios.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: KLA-Tencor Corporation
    Inventor: Bjorn Brauer
  • Patent number: 10767977
    Abstract: An optical scanning system including a radiating source that outputs a light beam, a time varying beam reflector that reflects the light beam through a scan lens towards a transparent sample, a focusing lens configured to be irradiated by light scattered from the transparent sample, and a detector that is irradiated by the light scattered from the transparent sample. The detector outputs a signal that indicates an intensity of light measured by the detector. None of the light scattered from the transparent sample is blocked. The light scattered from the transparent sample is scattered from the top surface of the transparent sample, the bottom surface of the transparent sample, or any location in between the top surface of the transparent sample and the bottom surface of the transparent sample.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: Lumina Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Steven W. Meeks, Hung Phi Nguyen, Alireza Shahdoost Moghaddam
  • Patent number: 10694113
    Abstract: Systems and methods for observing a substrate, and laser operations thereon, are described. Dark field illumination is directed through a camera port of a laser beam delivery system and through laser beam delivery system optics of the laser beam delivery system onto the substrate. Simultaneously, a high dynamic range (HDR) camera system to observe light reflected from the substrate and transmitted through the laser beam delivery system optics of the laser beam delivery system to the camera port of the laser beam delivery system. The wavelengths of a pilot laser of the laser beam delivery system reaching the lensing system of the HDR camera system may be attenuated in intensity and may be confined to a peripheral, off-axis optical path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: XIRIS AUTOMATION INC.
    Inventors: Cameron Serles, Vladimir Chpakovski
  • Patent number: 10670536
    Abstract: Methods and systems for selecting a mode for inspection of a specimen are provided. One method includes determining how separable defects of interest (DOIs) and nuisances detected on a specimen are in one or more modes of an inspection subsystem. The separability of the modes for the Dais and nuisances is used to select a subset of the modes for inspection of other specimens of the same type. Other characteristics of the performance of the modes may be used in combination with the separability to select the modes. The subset of modes selected based on the separability may also be an initial subset of modes for which additional analysis is performed to determine the final subset of the modes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2020
    Assignee: KLA-Tencor Corp.
    Inventors: Martin Plihal, Saravanan Paramasivam, Ankit Jain, Prasanti Uppaluri, Raghavan Konuru
  • Patent number: 10648925
    Abstract: Defects from a hot scan can be saved, such as on persistent storage, random access memory, or a split database. The persistent storage can be patch-based virtual inspector virtual analyzer (VIVA) or local storage. Repeater defect detection jobs can determined and the wafer can be inspected based on the repeater defect detection jobs. Repeater defects can be analyzed and corresponding defect records to the repeater defects can be read from the persistent storage. These results may be returned to the high level defect detection controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: KLA-Tencor Corporation
    Inventors: Eugene Shifrin, Bjorn Brauer, Sumit Sen, Ashok Mathew, Sreeram Chandrasekaran, Lisheng Gao
  • Patent number: 10651095
    Abstract: Thermal monitors comprising a substrate with at least one camera position on a bottom surface thereof, a wireless communication controller and a battery. The camera has a field of view sufficient to produce an image of at least a portion of a wafer support, the image representative of the temperature within the field of view. Methods of using the thermal monitors are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Deepak Jadhav
  • Patent number: 10593575
    Abstract: Systems, machines, and methods for monitoring wafer handling are disclosed herein. A system for monitoring wafer handling includes a sensor and a controller. The sensor is capable of being secured to an assembled wafer handling machine. The controller is in electronic communication with the sensor and includes control logic. The control logic is configured to store a reference output of the sensor when the wafer handling machine is aligned and is configured to generate an indication signal when a difference between the reference output and a current output of the sensor exceeds a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES, INC.
    Inventors: Stephen B. Miner, William John Fosnight, Ryan J. Gallagher
  • Patent number: 10404908
    Abstract: An imaging system includes multiple diffractive optical gratings disposed over a two-dimensional array of photosensitive pixels. The different gratings present different patterns and features that are tailored to produce point-spread responses that emphasize different properties of an imaged scene. The different responses are captured by the pixels, and data captured from the responses can be used separately or together to analyze aspects of the scene. The imaging systems can include circuitry to analyze the image data, and to support modes that select between point-spread responses, selections of the pixels, and algorithms for analyzing image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: David G. Stork, Patrick R. Gill, Evan L. Erickson, Mark D. Kellam, Alexander C. Schneider, Jay Endsley, Salman Kabir
  • Patent number: 10365227
    Abstract: A detection device 1 includes an irradiator 3, a photodiode 4, and an evaluation portion 5. The irradiator 3 emits laser light to a surface of a substrate W. The light resulting from the laser light reflected at the surface of the substrate W is incident on the photodiode 4, and the photodiode 4 detects a first position P1 at which the light is incident. The evaluation portion 5 includes a calculation portion and a detection portion. The calculation portion calculates an inclination of the surface of the substrate W on the basis of the first position P1 and a second position P2 at which light is incident on the photodiode 4 when the laser light is reflected at the surface of the substrate W that is flat. The detection portion detects a defect formed on the surface of the substrate W on the basis of the inclination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignees: SHIN-ETSU HANDOTAI CO., LTD., RAYRESEARCH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tadao Kondo, Hisato Nakamura
  • Patent number: 10349049
    Abstract: To provide an inspection device and an inspection method which are capable of detecting a disconnection defect in an organic TFT array and/or evaluating a variation in the output properties and response speed of each organic TFT element. There are provided a device and a method of optically measuring the presence or absence of the accumulation of carriers in an organic semiconductor thin film which provides a channel layer of an organic TFT element. A source and a drain in each organic TFT are short-circuited to each other, a voltage is turned on and turned off in a predetermined period between this and a gate, and images before and after application of the voltage are captured in synchronization with the predetermined period while radiating monochromatic light, to obtain a differential image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Junya Tsutsumi, Satoshi Matsuoka, Toshikazu Yamada, Tatsuo Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 10323929
    Abstract: A printer comprises a processor; a media hanger comprising a sensor array receiving space extending along a length of the media hanger; and a sensor array positioned in the sensor array receiving space and communicatively connected to the processor, the sensory array comprising a plurality of sensor pairs, each sensor pair having an emitter and a receiver, the sensor array being configured to: emit light from the emitter outward from the media hanger, detect the emitted light after the emitted light is reflected off a surface of media loaded on the media hanger, transmit signal intensity of the reflected light detected by each of the sensor pairs to the processor; wherein the processor is configured to determine a width of the media loaded on the media hanger based on the signal intensity detected by each of the sensor pairs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: DATAMAX-O'NEIL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chin Young Wong, Sébastien Michel Marie Joseph d'Armancourt
  • Patent number: 10088339
    Abstract: An automated system and method for detecting substantial edge defects on an object that can degrade or impede proper object performance. The defects, such as chips, cracks, or bumps, if sufficiently substantial, can interfere with the proper operation of the object. The inspection may be performed with four electronic sensors, two on each side of the object, or with two electronic sensors that each take two sets of measurements spaced apart by a certain time interval. Sensor measurements are periodically obtained and used by a controller to calculate a value based on the four sensor measurements. The calculated value is compared to a threshold to determine whether or not any defects are significant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: Azbil Corporation
    Inventors: Tasuku Imanishi, Shinrin Takahashi
  • Patent number: 10048212
    Abstract: A method for evaluating the quality of a directed self-assembling method used for generating directed self-assembling patterns. The method for evaluating comprises obtaining at least one set of parameter values for a parameterized set of processing steps and material properties characterizing the directed self-assembling method, thus characterizing a specific directed self-assembling method used for generating a directed self-assembled pattern. The method furthermore comprises obtaining a scattered radiation pattern on the directed self-assembled pattern obtained using the directed self-assembling method characterized by the set of parameter values, thus obtaining scattered radiation pattern results for the directed self-assembled pattern. The method furthermore comprises determining based on the scattered radiation pattern results a qualification score and correlating the qualification score with the set of parameter values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: IMEC VZW
    Inventors: Roel Gronheid, Lieve Van Look, Paulina Alejandra Rincon Delgadillo
  • Patent number: 9976951
    Abstract: A method detects whether or not a workpiece is coated with a water-soluble protective film. The method includes a preparatory step before detection and a detecting step. The preparatory step includes irradiating with infrared light a first region coated with the water-soluble protective film and a second region not coated with the water-soluble protective film for a reference, receiving the reflected light, and thereby acquiring an intensity of reflection from the first region and an intensity of reflection from the second region; and a threshold determining step of determining a threshold from the intensity of reflection from the first region and the intensity of reflection from the second region at a wavenumber of 3000 cm?1 to 3600 cm?1. The detecting step includes irradiating a surface of the workpiece with the infrared light, receiving the reflected light, and comparing the thus obtained intensity of reflection with the threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: DISCO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Senichi Ryo, Yusaku Ito, Tomoaki Endo, Yukinobu Ohura, Kentaro Odanaka
  • Patent number: 9947564
    Abstract: Provided is a conveyance system that adjusts the position of a conveyed substrate, prevents damage resulting from the heat of another apparatus in a conveyance base, prevents insufficient electrical power of another apparatus in the conveyance base, and can move the conveyance base smoothly. A substrate processing system is provided with a conveyance chamber and a sliding box moving within the conveyance chamber. A plurality of processing modules are connected, and the sliding box is provided with: a conveyance arm that moves wafers; a servo motor that moves the conveyance arm; and a servo motor driver that controls the electrical power supplied to the servo motor. A servo motor controller that controls the servo motor driver is disposed outside a transfer module, and the servo motor driver and servo motor controller perform optical communication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Tsutomu Hiroki, Takehiro Nakayama
  • Patent number: 9887008
    Abstract: As a solution to the type of problems noted above, this disclosure provides novel methods and systems that include dual-port solid-state drive (SSD) DIMM devices to provide primary storage capabilities with very low latency and better availability of DDR4 devices. The dual-port DDR4-SSD flash memory devices guarantee primary storage devices still accessible with one CPU or network failure. The novel DDR4 memory bus devices may be used not only for memory media and storage device buffers, but also to allow two CPUs to share data stored in flash SSD chips and to greatly improve DDR4 bus efficiency and bus utilizations by block accesses and eliminate PCIE-DMA data transfers. Through the features of the claimed subject matter described herein, dual-port DDR4-DIMM memory devices can be achieved that provide an All-Flash-Array storage system with substantially higher reliability, availability, and performance over conventional SATA/SAS-SSD, PCIE-SSD, and NVME-SSD solutions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: Futurewei Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Xiaobing Lee, Yansong Wang, Ting Li
  • Patent number: 9846112
    Abstract: An exterior aircraft lighting device comprises: at least one light source; an optical element having a light entry side facing the at least one light source and a light exit side and being configured for modifying light emitted by the at least one light source; at least one photo detector, which is configured and arranged for detecting a portion of the light emitted by the at least one light source, which is reflected by the light entry side of the at least one optical element, the photo detector providing a detection value, representing the amount of detected light; and a control and evaluation unit which is configured for evaluating the state of wear of the at least one light source based on the detection value provided by the at least one photo detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: GOODRICH LIGHTING SYSTEMS GMBH
    Inventors: Anil Kumar Jha, Andre Hessling-Von Heimendahl, Christian Schoen
  • Patent number: 9678020
    Abstract: Example embodiments relate to an apparatus and method for inspecting a substrate defect. The substrate defect inspecting apparatus includes a substrate, a light source emitting an infrared beam to the substrate, a detector detecting the infrared beam reflected from the substrate, and a defect analyzer receiving first information and second information from the detector and analyzing defects existing in the substrate. According to at least one example embodiment, the second information is acquired during a later process than the first information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Joon-Seo Song, Woo-seok Ko, Ji-Young Shin, Seong-Jin Yun, Yu-Sin Yang, Sang-Kil Lee, Chung-Sam Jun
  • Patent number: 9673022
    Abstract: A system for reviewing a wafer, the system may include a memory unit that is configured to store information about locations of a set of suspected defects that are located at multiple dice of the wafer; electron optics that is configured to obtain images of reference elements, wherein the reference elements are located within a first reference die of the wafer; and a processor that is configured to: compare the first sub-set of suspected defects to a first sub-set of reference elements to provide a first evaluation result; and select, in response to the first evaluation result, a source of a second sub-set of reference elements. The electron optics is further configured to obtain images of a second sub-set of reference elements that are located within a second reference die of the wafer when it is determined that the second reference die is the source of the second sub-set of reference elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS ISRAEL LTD.
    Inventors: Ofir Greenberg, Yuval Gronau
  • Patent number: 9549495
    Abstract: A component mounting system includes: a component mounter that moves a mounting head and allows a suction nozzle mounted in the mounting head to suck a component supplied by a parts feeder to mount the component on a substrate; a head maintenance device that executes maintenance of the mounting head; an inspection section that inspects a state of the mounting head undergone the maintenance; a use suitability determination section that determines whether or not use of the mounting head undergone the maintenance is suitable based on a result of the inspection; and a registration section that registers the mounting head determined to be not suitable for use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2017
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shogo Tada, Shin-ichiro Endo, Toru Chikuma, Daisuke Mizokami
  • Patent number: 9506873
    Abstract: Methods and systems for detecting defects on a wafer are provided. One system includes an illumination subsystem configured to direct light to at least one spot on a wafer. The system also includes at least one element configured to block first portion(s) of light scattered from the at least one spot from reaching a detector while allowing second portion(s) of the light scattered from the at least one spot to be detected by the detector. The first portion(s) of the light are scattered from one or more patterned features in a logic region on the wafer. The second portion(s) of the light are not scattered from the one or more patterned features. The detector is not an imaging detector. The system further includes a computer subsystem configured to detect defects on the wafer based on output of the detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: KLA-Tencor Corp.
    Inventors: Vaibhav Gaind, Nisha Amthul
  • Patent number: 9494486
    Abstract: A method for inspecting impacts present on an internal face of a fan casing, the method including: spotting a first impact present on the internal face of the fan casing; delimiting an inspection area containing the first impact; spotting the various impacts present in the delimited inspection area, the various spotted impacts forming a set of impacts to be considered; measuring, for each impact that is to be considered, the depth of length of the impact; for each impact to be considered, determining a harmfulness value, using at least one chart relating the depth and length of each impact to be considered to a level of harmfulness; determining, for the inspection area containing the first impact, a total harmfulness value by adding together the harmfulness level determined for each impact to be considered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: SNECMA
    Inventors: Julien Tran, Richard Lavignotte
  • Patent number: 9494412
    Abstract: A method for determining 3D coordinates of points on a surface of the object by providing a 3D coordinate measurement device attached to a moveable apparatus that is coupled to a position sensing mechanism, all coupled to a processor, projecting a pattern of light onto the surface to determine a first set of 3D coordinates of points on the surface, determining susceptibility of the object to multipath interference by projecting and reflecting rays from the measured 3D coordinates of the points, moving the moveable apparatus under processor control to change the relative position of the device and the object, and projecting the a pattern of light onto the surface to determine a second set of 3D coordinates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: FARO TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Yazid Tohme, Robert E. Bridges
  • Patent number: 9482514
    Abstract: A method for determining 3D coordinates of points on a surface of the object by providing a remote probe having a probe tip and a non-contact 3D measuring device having a projector and camera coupled to a processor, projecting a pattern onto the surface to determine a first set of 3D coordinates of points on the surface, determining susceptibility of the object to multipath interference by projecting and reflecting rays from the measured 3D coordinates of the points, projecting a first light to direct positioning of the remote probe by the user, the first light determined at least in part by the susceptibility to multipath interference, touching the probe tip to the surface at the indicated region, illuminating at least three spots of light on the remote probe, capturing an image of the at least three spots with the camera, and determining 3D coordinates of the probe tip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: FARO TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Robert E. Bridges
  • Patent number: 9453717
    Abstract: A method for determining 3D coordinates of points on a surface of the object by providing a non-contact 3D measuring device having a projector and camera coupled to a processor, projecting a pattern onto the surface to determine a first set of 3D coordinates of points on the surface, determining susceptibility of the object to multipath interference by projecting and reflecting rays from the measured 3D coordinates of the points, selecting a pattern as a single line stripe or a single spot based on the susceptibility to multipath interference, and projecting the pattern onto the surface to determine a second set of 3D coordinates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignee: FARO TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Robert E. Bridges
  • Patent number: 9426457
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a test socket for camera modules, which enables automated inspection of camera modules. The test socket for camera modules includes a base plate provided with a loading unit on which a camera module to be tested is placed; a slider formed on the base plate and horizontally movable thereon; an upper plate formed on the slider to move up or down thereon, and including a cover corresponding to an upper portion of the camera module; a vertical cylinder allowing the upper plate to vertically reciprocate with respect to the slider; and a pin block formed on the loading unit or the cover and connected to a contact point of the camera module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: PRIMETECH CO., LTD
    Inventor: Haeng-Su Kim
  • Patent number: 9401015
    Abstract: In automatic defect classification, a classification recipe must be set for each defect observation device. If a plurality of devices operate at the same stage, the classification class in the classification recipes must be the same. Problems have arisen whereby differences occur in the classification class in different devices when a new classification recipe is created. This defect classification system has a classification recipe storage unit; an information specification unit, the stage of a stored image, and device information. A corresponding defect specification unit specifies images of the same type of defect from images obtained from different image pickup devices at the same stage. An image conversion unit converts the images obtained from the different image pickup devices at the same stage into comparable similar images; and a recipe update unit records the classification classes in the classification recipes corresponding to the specified images of the same type of defect.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Yohei Minekawa, Yuji Takagi, Minoru Harada, Takehiro Hirai, Ryo Nakagaki
  • Patent number: 9367911
    Abstract: A system receives, based on processing of an inspected frame of an inspected image generated by collecting signals indicative of a pattern on an article, at least one candidate defect location in the inspected frame. The system defines a candidate patch within the inspected frame. The candidate patch is associated with the candidate defect location. The system identifies at least one similar patch in the inspected frame using a predefined similarity criterion and determines whether a defect exists at the candidate defect location based on a comparison of at least a portion of the candidate patch with at least a corresponding portion of the at least one similar patch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS ISRAEL, LTD.
    Inventors: Michele Dalla-Torre, Boris Sherman, Zion Hadad, Yehuda Udy Danino, Noga Bullkich
  • Patent number: 9329136
    Abstract: To detect an infinitesimal defect, highly precisely measure the dimensions of the detect, a detect inspection device is configured to comprise: a irradiation unit which irradiate light in a linear region on a surface of a sample; a detection unit which detect light from the linear region; and a signal processing unit which processes a signal obtained by detecting light and detecting a defect. The detection unit includes: an optical assembly which diffuses the light from the sample in one direction and forms an image in a direction orthogonal to the one direction; and a detection assembly having an array sensor in which detection pixels are positioned two-dimensionally, which detects the light diffused in the one direction and imaged in the direction orthogonal to the one direction, adds output signals of each of the detection pixels aligned in the direction in which the light is diffused, and outputs same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Toshifumi Honda, Yuta Urano, Takahiro Jingu, Akira Hamamatsu