Inventor · Santa Cruz, CA, US

Howard Grunes

30Patents
21h-index
46Co-inventors
85Inventor score

Filing activity: Apr 13, 1981 → Oct 25, 2006

Most-cited inventions

PatentTitleAreaCited byStatus
US5656093A Wafer spacing mask for a substrate support chuck and method of fabricating same Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 778 Expired
US5186718A Staged-vacuum wafer processing system and method Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 700 Expired
US5228501A Physical vapor deposition clamping mechanism and heater/cooler Electricity 313 Expired
US5447409A Robot assembly Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 117 Expired
US6640151B1 Multi-tool control system, method and medium Electricity 112 Expired
US5690795A Screwless shield assembly for vacuum processing chambers Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 79 Expired
US5763851A Slotted RF coil shield for plasma deposition system Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 59 Expired
US6468353B1 Method and apparatus for improved substrate handling Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 58 Expired
US6486444B1 Load-lock with external staging area Electricity 53 Expired
US5810931A High aspect ratio clamp ring Electricity 48 Expired
US7048837B2 End point detection for sputtering and resputtering Electricity 47 Expired
US5387067A Direct load/unload semiconductor wafer cassette apparatus and transfer system Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 42 Expired
US6824612B2 Electroless plating system Electricity 41 Expired
US5484011A Method of heating and cooling a wafer during semiconductor processing Electricity 34 Expired
US6575737B1 Method and apparatus for improved substrate handling Electricity 33 Expired
US7138014B2 Electroless deposition apparatus Chemistry; Metallurgy 30 Expired
US4393663A Two-phase thermosyphon heater Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating 29 Expired
US6368469B1 Coils for generating a plasma and for sputtering Electricity 28 Expired
US6102164A Multiple independent robot assembly and apparatus for processing and transferring semiconductor wafers Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 27 Expired
US6254746A Recessed coil for generating a plasma Electricity 25 Expired
US5857368A Apparatus and method for fabricating metal paths in semiconductor substrates through high pressure extrusion Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 24 Expired
US5879127A Robot assembly Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 19 Expired
US5868847A Clamp ring for shielding a substrate during film layer deposition Chemistry; Metallurgy 19 Expired
US5556248A Semiconductor wafer cassette transfer system Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies 17 Expired
US6783639B2 Coils for generating a plasma and for sputtering Electricity 12 Expired

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