Patent · US Expired

Numerical aperature increasing lens (nail) techniques for high-resolution sub-surface imaging

US6687058B1 · kind B1 · utility

10Cited by
5References
52Claims
0Family size

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Key dates

Filing dateDec 20, 2001
Grant dateFeb 3, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 20, 2021

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11B2007/13727
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A viewing enhancement lens (18-NAIL) which functions to increase the numerical aperture or light gathering or focusing power of viewing optics such as a microscope (26) used to view structure within a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or chip or of imaging optics such as media recorders. The result is to increase the resolution of the system by a factor of between n, and n2, where n is the index of retraction of the lens substrate.

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