Cluster tool layer thickness measurement apparatus
US5872632A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 2, 1996 |
| Grant date | Feb 16, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 2, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01B11/0616
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A cluster tool layer thickness measurement apparatus is part of a reactor cluster that includes a plurality of substrate processing reactors arranged around a sealed chamber in which a robot is located. The cluster tool layer thickness measurement apparatus is also mounted on the sealed chamber. After a layer is deposited on a substrate in one of the reactors, the robot removes the substrate from the reaction chamber of the reactor and places the substrate directly in the cluster tool layer thickness measurement apparatus on a substrate support. A carriage assembly moves the substrate support and consequently the substrate under an optical thickness measurement assembly. Optical thickness measurement assembly generates a signal representative of the thickness of the layer at one point that is transmitted to a monitor computer. After the measurement is completed, the carriage assembly moves the substrate so that the thickness of a layer on the substrate is measured at each of a plurality of locations.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.