Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
356503000 | Thickness | 39 |
20080278732 | Reduced coherence symmetric grazing incidence differential interferometer - A system for inspecting specimens such as semiconductor wafers is provided. The system provides scanning of dual-sided specimens using a diffraction grating that widens and passes nth order (n>0) wave fronts to the specimen surface and a reflective surface for each channel of the light beam. Two channels and two reflective surfaces are preferably employed, and the wavefronts are combined using a second diffraction grating and passed to a camera system having a desired aspect ratio. The system preferably comprises a damping arrangement which filters unwanted acoustic and seismic vibration, including an optics arrangement which scans a first portion of the specimen and a translation or rotation arrangement for translating or rotating the specimen to a position where the optics arrangement can scan the remaining portion(s) of the specimen. The system further includes-means for stitching scans together, providing for smaller and less expensive optical elements. | 11-13-2008 |
20080297808 | Optical Sensor For Extreme Environments - An optical sensing probe includes a tube having a tip portion configured for placement in an environment in which conditions are to be sensed and an etalon having a known characteristic disposed proximate the tip portion. The tube also includes a head portion remote from the tip portion containing a light directing element for directing light beams at the etalon and receiving reflected light beams from the etalon wherein the received reflected light beams are used for determining an environmental condition proximate the tip portion. A method for measuring a thickness of the etalon may include directing a light beams at different frequencies at the etalon and receiving the light beams from the etalon. The method may also include identifying conditions of the respective light beams condition received from the etalon and then calculating a first thickness of the etalon responsive to the respective conditions and the known characteristic. | 12-04-2008 |
20080316499 | Tear film measurement - The invention comprises an apparatus for measuring the relative thickness of the lipid layer component of the precorneal tear film on the surface of an eye after distribution of the lipid layer subsequent to blinking is disclosed. An illuminator directs light to the lipid layer of a patient's eye. The illuminator is a broad spectrum light source covering the visible region and is a lambertion light emitter such that the light source is specularly reflected from the lipid layer and undergoes constructive and destructive interference in the lipid layer. A collector collects and focuses the specularly reflected light such that the interference patterns on the tear film lipid layer are observable. The collector also produces an output signal representative of the specularly reflected light which is suitable for further analysis, such as projection on to a high resolution video monitor or analysis by or storage in a computer. In order to facilitate ease of measurement, the patient's head may be positioned on an observation platform when the illuminator directs light to the lipid layer of the patient's eye. | 12-25-2008 |
20090051924 | APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THICKNESS OF A SUBSTRATE - An apparatus for measuring thickness is provided. A light source irradiates a front surface or a rear surface of a substrate with a light. A splitter splits the light into a reference light and a measurement light. The reference light is reflected by a reference light reflecting device. An optical path changing device changes an optical path length of light reflected from the reference light reflecting device. A light receiving device measures an interference of the reflected light from the substrate and the reference light from the reference light reflecting device. A thickness of at least one of the front surface, rear surface or inside of the substrate is measured based on a measurement of the interference. | 02-26-2009 |
20090066966 | Method and device for contactless level and interface detection - Method and apparatus for determining the thickness of material layers of a container-held ( | 03-12-2009 |
20090185193 | Interferometric measurement of DLC layer on magnetic head - An explicit relationship is developed between the ratio of average interferometric modulation produced by diamond-like carbon (DLC)-coated magnetic-head surfaces and the thickness of the DLC layer. Accordingly, the thickness of the DLC layer is calculated in various manners from modulation data acquired for the system using object surfaces of known optical parameters. | 07-23-2009 |
20090296099 | Interferometric Layer Thickness Determination - An interferometric measuring device for measuring layer thicknesses of partially transparent layers on substrates, especially of wear protection layers based on carbon, having a scanning device which scans these layers automatically in its depth direction, using which an interference plane is displaceable relative to the layer structure, having an interferometer part that has a white light interferometer and/or a wavelength-scanning interferometer. Also described is a corresponding evaluation method. | 12-03-2009 |
20100097618 | Microscopy system, microscopy method, and a method of treating an aneurysm - A microscopy system and method allow observing a fluorescent substance accumulated in a tissue. The tissue can be observed at a same time both with visible light and with fluorescent light. It is possible to observe a series of previously recorded fluorescent light images in superposition with the visible light images. An end of the series of images may be automatically determined. A thermal protective filter may be inserted into a beam path of an illuminating system at such automatically determined end of the series. Further, the fluorescent light image may be analyzed for identifying a coherent fluorescent portion thereof. A representation of a periphery line of the coherent portion may be generated, and depths profile data may be obtained only from the coherent portion. An illuminating light beam for exciting the fluorescence may be modulated for improving a contrast of fluorescent images. | 04-22-2010 |
20100165354 | METHOD OF MEASURING TOPOLOGY OF FUNCTIONAL LIQUID DROPLET IN PIXEL, TOPOLOGY MEASURING APPARATUS OF FUNCTIONAL LIQUID IN PIXEL, LIQUID EJECTION APPARATUS, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ELECTRO-OPTICAL APPARATUS, ELECTRO-OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - A method of measuring topology of functional liquid in a pixel, in which thickness or volume of the functional liquid in the pixel is measured by a surface topology measuring apparatus comprising: measuring surface topologies in which surface topology of the functional liquid in the pixel and surface topology of the bank are measured by the surface topology measuring apparatus, and measurement parameters regarding the surface topologies are generated; adding a bank height in which a height parameter of a height of the bank is added to the measurement parameter of a surface of the functional liquid in the pixel of the measurement parameter generated; and calculating topology in which the thickness or the volume of the functional liquid in the pixel is calculated based on the added measurement parameter of the surface of the functional liquid in the pixel and the measurement parameter of the surface of the bank. | 07-01-2010 |
20100171961 | METHOD FOR THE CONTACTLESS MEASUREMENT OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS WITH TWO LAYERS BY SINGLE-VIEW BACKLIT SHADOWGRAPHY - To measure a hollow three-dimensional object without contact, this object being translucent or transparent vis-á-vis a visible light, an image of the object is acquired by single-view backlit shadowgraphy, along a viewing axis, by observing this object with visible light, this image comprising at least one luminous line, an equation is established that connects at least one optogeometric parameter of the object to at least one geometric parameter of the luminous line, this geometric parameter is determined, and the optogeometric parameter is determined by means of the equation and the geometric parameter thus determined. | 07-08-2010 |
20100208272 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING SHAPE OR THICKNESS INFORMATION OF A SUBSTRATE - An interferometer system and method may be used to measure substrate thickness or shape. The system may include two spaced apart reference flats having that form an optical cavity between two parallel reference surfaces. A substrate holder may be configured to place the substrate in the cavity with first and second substrate surfaces substantially parallel with corresponding first and second reference surfaces such that a space between the first or second substrate surface is three millimeters or less from a corresponding one of the reference surfaces or a damping surface. Interferometer devices may be located on diametrically opposite sides of the cavity and optically coupled thereto. The interferometers can map variations in spacing between the substrate surfaces and the reference surfaces, respectively, through interference of light optically coupled to and from to the cavity via the interferometer devices. | 08-19-2010 |
20100277745 | Method for Measuring Thickness - Disclosed is a method for measuring a thickness of a subjecting layer attacked on a base layer by means of an interferometer, which includes the steps of: obtaining a correlation equation of a phase difference with respect to thicknesses of sample layers, the thicknesses being different from each other, the sample layers being made from a material substantially equal to a material of the subjecting layer; obtaining a first interference signal with respect to an optical axial direction incident to the base layer at a boundary surface between an air layer and the base layer; obtaining a second interference signal with respect to the optical axial direction at a boundary surface between the subjecting layer and the base layer; obtaining a phase difference between a phase of the first interference signal and a phase of the second interference signal at respective heights substantially equal to each other with respect to the optical axial direction; and determining a thickness of the subjecting layer by inserting the phase difference into the correlation equation. | 11-04-2010 |
20110019201 | DETERMINING ENDPOINT IN A SUBSTRATE PROCESS - An endpoint detection method for detecting an endpoint of a process comprises reflecting polychromatic light from a substrate, the polychromatic light having a plurality of wavelengths. A plurality of light beams having different wavelengths are generated from the reflected polychromatic light. A wavelength of light is determined from the plurality of light beams, at which a local intensity of the reflected light is maximized. | 01-27-2011 |
20110043820 | Method of Measuring Coating Thickness Using Infrared Light - A method of measuring a thickness of a coating on a substrate material. A first pulse of monochromatic light having a predetermined first wavelength is emitted toward the coating and substrate material. A second pulse of monochromatic light having a predetermined second wavelength is emitted toward the coating and substrate material, the second wavelength being different than the first wavelength. A first elapsed time is measured from emission of the first pulse of light to reception of a reflection of the first pulse of light from a surface of the substrate material at an interface with the coating. A second elapsed time is measured from emission of the second pulse of light to reception of a reflection of the second pulse of light from an outer surface of the coating. A thickness of the coating is determined as a function of a difference between the first and second elapsed times. | 02-24-2011 |
20110188048 | Method for Measuring Thickness or Surface Profile - Disclosed is a method of measuring thickness or a surface profile of a thin film layer formed on a base layer through a white light scanning interferometry, the method including: preparing simulation interference signals corresponding to thicknesses by assuming a plurality of sample thin film layers different in thickness from one another and simulating interference signals with respect to the respective sample thin film layers; acquiring a real interference signal with respect to an optical-axis direction of entering the thin film layer by illuminating the thin film layer with white light; preparing a plurality of estimated thicknesses that the thin film layer may have on the basis of the real interference signal; comparing whether the simulation interference signal having thickness corresponding to the estimated thickness is substantially matched with the real interference signal; and determining the thickness of the simulation interference signal substantially matched with the real interference signal as the thickness of the thin film layer. | 08-04-2011 |
20110222071 | METHOD FOR MEASURING THE THICKNESS OF A DISCOIDAL WORKPIECE - The invention relates to a method for measuring the thickness of a discoidal workpiece, which serves as a substrate for electronic components, comprising the steps: infrared radiation is directed at the top side of the workpiece, wherein a first radiation portion is reflected on the top side and a second radiation portion penetrates the workpiece thickness, is reflected on the bottom side of the workpiece and emerges again on the top side of the workpiece, the first and the second radiation portion interfere under formation of an interference pattern and the optical workpiece thickness between the top side of the workpiece and the bottom side of the workpiece is determined using the interference pattern. It is provided according to the invention that the mechanical workpiece thickness is determined from a measurement of the intensity of the infrared radiation reflected and/or transmitted from the workpiece. | 09-15-2011 |
20110222072 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR OPTICALLY MEASURING BY INTERFEROMETRY THE THICKNESS OF AN OBJECT - Apparatus ( | 09-15-2011 |
20110279822 | PROFILE MEASURING APPARATUS - A shape determining device (X) splits the original light beam from a light source (Y) into two light beams, directs the light beams to the front and back surfaces of the object ( | 11-17-2011 |
20120044501 | FILM THICKNESS MEASURING APPARATUS USING INTERFERENCE AND FILM THICKNESS MEASURING METHOD USING INTERFERENCE - With a film thickness measuring apparatus of the present invention, a substrate having a transparent film formed on its front surface is placed on a placement unit. A half mirror divides light from a light source such that divided light beams are emitted to the front surface of the substrate and to a reference plane, and overlays reflected light from the front surface of the substrate and reflected light from the reference plane on each other to form interfering light. The interfering light is imaged by an imager. Based on the imaging result, the film thickness of the transparent film is calculated by an arithmetic unit. An optical filter with which an intensity spectrum of transmitted light exhibits a plurality of peaks, the optical filter is disposed between the light source and the half mirror. | 02-23-2012 |
20120176623 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MEASURING CHARACTERISTICS OF MULTI-LAYERED THIN FILMS - Disclosed herein are an apparatus and method for measuring characteristics of multi-layered thin films. There is provided an apparatus for measuring characteristics of multi-layered films, including: a light source member irradiating light to a sample formed of the multi-layered thin films; an interference-reflection member splitting light into a first beam for acquiring reference reflection light and a second beam for acquiring sample reflection light, and generating an interference signal when the light shutter is opened, and generating the reflection signal when the light shutter is closed; a sample member scanning and irradiating the sample by the second beam and transferring a support to which the sample is fixed; an interference-reflection light detection member splitting and detecting the intensity of the generated interference signal and reflection signal for each wavelength; and a signal processing member using the intensity of the interference signal for each wavelength and the reflection signal for each wavelength detected from the interference-reflection detection unit to image the multi-layered thin films of the sample, calculating reflectivity, refractive index, and the thickness of the multi-layered thin films. By this configuration, the performance of measuring characteristics of multi-layered thin films can be improved. | 07-12-2012 |
20120218560 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING FILM THICKNESS MEASUREMENTS USING WHITE LIGHT SCANNING INTERFEROMETRY - The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for measuring the thickness of a transparent film by broad band interferometry, comprising the steps of preparing a correlogram of the film by an interferometer, applying a Fourier transformation to said correlogram to obtain a Fourier phase function, removing a linear component thereof, applying a second integral transformation to the remaining non-linear component to obtain an integral amplitude function of said non-linear component, identifying the peak location of said integral amplitude function and determining the thickness of the film as the double value of the abscissa at said peak location considering a refractive index of a film which is dependent on wavelength. The last two steps may be replaced by identifying the peak locations of said integral amplitude function and determining the thickness of the films as the double values of the abscissas at the peak locations. | 08-30-2012 |
20120300218 | INTERFERENCE MEASUREMENT DEVICE AND MEASUREMENT METHOD - [Problem to be Solved]To improve the measurement accuracy of an interference measurement device which utilizes interference of light. | 11-29-2012 |
20130155415 | HEIGHT-MEASURING METHOD AND HEIGHT-MEASURING DEVICE - A height-measuring device ( | 06-20-2013 |
20130182262 | Method for Reducing Wafer Shape and Thickness Measurement Errors Resulted From Cavity Shape Changes - Methods and systems for reducing wafer shape and thickness measurement errors resulted from cavity shape changes are disclosed. Cavity calibration process is performed immediately before the wafer measurement. Calibrating the cavity characteristics every time the method is executed reduces wafer shape and thickness measurement errors resulted from cavity shape changes. Additionally or alternatively, a polynomial fitting process utilizing a polynomial of at least a second order is utilized for cavity tilt estimation. High order cavity shape information generated using high order polynomials takes into consideration cavity shape changes due to temperature variations, stress or the like, effectively increases accuracy of the wafer shape and thickness information computed. | 07-18-2013 |
20130265587 | SURFACE TREATMENT STATUS MONITORING DEVICE - A measurement light having a predetermined wavelength bandwidth from a light source is radiated onto the structure to be measured in a specimen | 10-10-2013 |
20130335747 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A PROPERTY OF A SURFACE - Method of determining a property of a sample from a correlogram obtainable by scanning of a surface of the sample through a focal plane of an objective using broad-band interferometry is provided. The correlogram may be displaying interference radiation intensity as a function of the scanning distance from the surface. The correlogram may be correlated with a secondary correlogram to obtain a cross correlogram or with the same correlogram to obtain an autocorrelogram. A property of the sample may be determined from the auto or cross correlogram. | 12-19-2013 |
20140029016 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO FOLD OPTICS IN TOOLS FOR MEASURING SHAPE AND/OR THICKNESS OF A LARGE AND THIN SUBSTRATE - A semiconductor measuring tool has a folding mirror configuration that directs a light beam to pass the same space multiple times to reduce the size and footprint. Furthermore, the folding mirrors may reflect the light beam at less than forty-five degrees; thereby allowing for smaller folding mirrors as compared to the prior art. | 01-30-2014 |
20140253928 | THICKNESS CHANGE MONITOR WAFER FOR IN SITU FILM THICKNESS MONITORING - An etch rate monitor apparatus has a substrate, an optical element and one or more optical detectors mounted to a common substrate with the one or more detectors sandwiched between the substrate and optical element to detect changes in optical interference signal resulting from changes in optical thickness of the optical element. The optical element is made of a material that allows transmission of light of a wavelength of interest. A reference waveform and data waveform can be collected with the apparatus and cross-correlated to determine a thickness change. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. | 09-11-2014 |
20140333936 | THICKNESS MEASURING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A BONDING LAYER - In a thickness measuring system for a bonding layer according to an exemplary embodiment, an optical element changes the wavelength of a first light source to enable at least one second light source propagating through a bonding layer to be incident to an object, wherein the bonding layer has an upper interface and a lower interface that are attached to the object; and an optical image capturing and analysis unit receives a plurality of reflected lights from the upper and the lower interfaces to capture a plurality of interference images of different wavelengths, and analyzes the intensity of the plurality of interference images to compute the thickness information of the bonding layer. | 11-13-2014 |
20140333937 | Grazing and Normal Incidence Interferometer Having Common Reference Surface - A system for inspecting specimens such as semiconductor wafers is provided. The system provides scanning of dual-sided specimens using a diffraction grating that widens and passes nth order (n>0) wave fronts to the specimen surface and a reflective surface for each channel of the light beam. Two channels and two reflective surfaces are preferably employed, and the wavefronts are combined using a second diffraction grating and passed to a camera system having a desired aspect ratio. The system preferably comprises a damping arrangement which filters unwanted acoustic and seismic vibration, including an optics arrangement which scans a first portion of the specimen and a translation or rotation arrangement for translating or rotating the specimen to a position where the optics arrangement can scan the remaining portion(s) of the specimen. The system further includes means for stitching scans together, providing for smaller and less expensive optical elements. | 11-13-2014 |
20150009509 | TRANSPARENT SUBSTRATE MONITORING APPARATUS AND TRANSPARENT SUBSTRATE METHOD - Provided are a transparent substrate monitoring apparatus and a transparent substrate monitoring method. The transparent substrate monitoring apparatus includes a light emitting unit emitting light; a double slit disposed on a plane defined in a first direction and a second direction intersecting a propagation direction of incident light and includes a first slit and a second slit spaced apart from each other in the first direction to allow the light to pass therethrough; an optical detection unit measuring an intensity profile or position of an interference pattern formed on a screen plane; and a signal processing unit receiving a signal from the optical detection unit to calculate an optical phase difference or an optical path difference. | 01-08-2015 |
20150049343 | PORTABLE INTERFEROMETRIC DEVICE - The present invention provides a novel simple, portable, compact and inexpensive approach for interferometric optical thickness measurements that can be easily incorporated into an existing microscope (or other imaging systems) with existing cameras. According to the invention, the interferometric device provides a substantially stable, easy to align common path interferometric geometry, while eliminating a need for controllably changing the optical path of the beam. To this end, the inexpensive and easy to align interferometric device of the invention is configured such that it applies the principles of the interferometric measurements to a sample beam only, being a single input into the interferometric device. | 02-19-2015 |
20150323313 | STRESS ANALYSIS OF SEMICONDUCTOR WAFERS - According to an aspect of an embodiment, a method may include measuring, based on interferometry, a film thickness of a surface film of a semiconductor wafer at a plurality of locations that are along a scanline of the wafer. The method may also include measuring, based on interferometry, a substrate thickness of a substrate of the semiconductor wafer at the plurality of locations. Moreover, the method may include measuring, based on an optical measurement technique, a curvature of the semiconductor wafer along the scanline. In addition, the method may include determining a stress of the surface film along the scanline based on the measured film thickness at the plurality of locations, based on the measured substrate thickness at the plurality of locations, and based on the measured curvature along the scanline. | 11-12-2015 |
20160153769 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPTICALLY CHECKING BY INTERFEROMETRY THE THICKNESS OF AN OBJECT BEING MACHINED | 06-02-2016 |
356504000 | Refraction from surfaces of different refractive index | 5 |
20090066967 | Method of measuring micro-structure, micro-structure measurement apparatus, and micro-structure analytical system - This invention provides a method and an apparatus of measuring a micro-structure, capable of evaluating a geometry of a micro-structure formed typically on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, in a non-destructive, easy, precise and quantitative manner. A reflection spectrum of a sample having a known dimension of a target micro-geometry is measured (A | 03-12-2009 |
20090296100 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING AN OPTICAL PROPERTY OF AN OPTICAL LAYER - The invention relates to a method for determining an optical property of an optical layer, comprising detecting a transmission value or a transmission spectrum and a reflection value or a reflection spectrum of the optical layer, and determining the optical property based on the transmission value or the transmission spectrum, the reflection value or the reflection spectrum and a model of the optical layer. | 12-03-2009 |
20110043821 | METHOD OF AUTHENTICATING A POLYMER FILM - A method of authenticating a polymer film comprises measuring the thickness of a layer therein by white light interferometry and/or measuring the birefringence of a layer therein. The method, and devices to carry out the method, may be used in security applications, for example to test for counterfeit bank notes. | 02-24-2011 |
20120206733 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE THICKNESS DATA DETERMINATION OF ULTRATHIN OPTICAL FILMS IN-SITU - Data relating to the thickness of a thin film, for example, a thickness change is determined herein as follows. Said film is arranged onto a substrate so that said film and substrate form, in a whole, an interferometric structure. After that optical radiation is emitted towards the interferometric structure formed by the film and the substrate, and optically reflected from said interferometric structure radiation is measured. Said thin film thickness related data, for example, thickness change, is then determined by means of said optically reflected radiation, for example, of spectrum related information. | 08-16-2012 |
20120218561 | FILM THICKNESS MEASUREMENT DEVICE AND FILM THICKNESS MEASUREMENT METHOD - A film thickness measurement apparatus | 08-30-2012 |