Inventor · Pleasanton, CA, US

Arthur M. Howald

53Patents
16h-index
33Co-inventors
84Inventor score

Filing activity: Nov 14, 1978 → Feb 13, 2024

Most-cited inventions

PatentTitleAreaCited byStatus
US7086347B2 Apparatus and methods for minimizing arcing in a plasma processing chamber Electricity 358 Expired
US7611640B1 Minimizing arcing in a plasma processing chamber Electricity 347 Active
US6125025A Electrostatic dechucking method and apparatus for dielectric workpieces in vacuum processors Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 98 Expired
US7480571B2 Apparatus and methods for improving the stability of RF power delivery to a plasma load Electricity 80 Expired
US6259334A Methods for controlling an RF matching network Electricity 63 Expired
US6876155B2 Plasma processor apparatus and method, and antenna Electricity 50 Expired
US7218503B2 Method of determining the correct average bias compensation voltage during a plasma process Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 48 Expired
US6265831A Plasma processing method and apparatus with control of rf bias Electricity 37 Expired
US6441555B1 Plasma excitation coil Electricity 36 Expired
US10469108B2 Systems and methods for using computer-generated models to reduce reflected power towards a high frequency RF generator during a cycle of operations of a low frequency RF generator Electricity 34 Active
US9779196B2 Segmenting a model within a plasma system Physics 33 Active
US6646385B2 Plasma excitation coil Electricity 24 Expired
US9720022B2 Systems and methods for providing characteristics of an impedance matching model for use with matching networks Electricity 19 Active
US6074516A High sputter, etch resistant window for plasma processing chambers Electricity 18 Expired
US6838832B1 Apparatus and methods for improving the stability of RF power delivery to a plasma load Electricity 17 Expired
US6965506B2 System and method for dechucking a workpiece from an electrostatic chuck Electricity 16 Expired
US7196896B2 Dechucking method and apparatus for workpieces in vacuum processors Electricity 15 Expired
US6790375B1 Dechucking method and apparatus for workpieces in vacuum processors Electricity 15 Expired
US9711332B2 Systems and methods for tuning an impedance matching network in a step-wise fashion for multiple states of an RF generator Electricity 14 Active
US4186508A Line guide for fishing rod Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 13 Expired
US8241701B2 Processes and systems for engineering a barrier surface for copper deposition Electricity 11 Active
US9831071B2 Systems and methods for using multiple inductive and capacitive fixtures for applying a variety of plasma conditions to determine a match network model Physics 9 Active
US9837252B2 Systems and methods for using one or more fixtures and efficiency to determine parameters of a match network model Electricity 9 Active
US6842147B2 Method and apparatus for producing uniform processing rates Electricity 8 Expired
US6400458B1 Interferometric method for endpointing plasma etch processes Electricity 8 Expired

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Inventor disambiguation is heuristic; counts are objective bibliographic measures.