Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for monitoring and/or end point detecting a process

US6374150B2 · kind B2 · utility

8Cited by
16References
7Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 30, 1998
Grant dateApr 16, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 30, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH10D1/712
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention describes a method of end point detecting a process. According to the present invention a surface characteristic is continually measured while the substrate is being processed. A predetermined change in the surface characteristic is utilized a signal and end to the processing step.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.