Wynn-Dyson imaging system with reduced thermal distortion
Granted: June 26, 2014
Application Number:
20140176923
A Wynn-Dyson imaging system with reduced thermal distortion is disclosed, wherein the reticle and wafer prisms are made of glass material having a coefficient of thermal expansion of no greater than about 100 ppb/° C. The system also includes a first IR-blocking window disposed between the reticle and the reticle prism, and a second matching window disposed between the wafer and the wafer prism to maintain imaging symmetry. The IR-blocking window substantially blocks convective and…
Dual-loop control for laser annealing of semiconductor wafers
Granted: June 19, 2014
Application Number:
20140166632
Systems and methods for performing semiconductor laser annealing using dual loop control are disclosed. The first control loop operates at a first frequency and controls the output of the laser and controls the 1/f laser noise. The second control loop also controls the amount of output power in the laser and operates at second frequency lower than the first frequency. The second control loop measures the thermal emission of the wafer over an area the size of one or more die so that…
Movable microchamber system with gas curtain
Granted: June 5, 2014
Application Number:
20140151344
A movable microchamber system with a gas curtain is disclosed. The microchamber system has a top member with a light-access feature and a stage assembly that supports a substrate to be processed. The stage assembly is disposed relative to the top member to define a microchamber and a peripheral microchamber gap. An inert gas is flowed into the peripheral microchamber gap to form the gas curtain just outside of the microchamber. The gas curtain substantially prevents reactive gas in the…
THROUGH SILICON VIA AND METHOD OF FABRICATING SAME
Granted: April 3, 2014
Application Number:
20140094007
A through silicon via structure and a method of fabricating the through silicon via. The method includes: (a) forming a trench in a silicon substrate, the trench open to a top surface of the substrate; (b) forming a silicon dioxide layer on sidewalls of the trench, the silicon dioxide layer not filling the trench; (c) filling remaining space in the trench with polysilicon; after (c), (d) fabricating at least a portion of a CMOS device in the substrate; (e) removing the polysilicon from…
Two-beam laser annealing with improved temperature performance
Granted: January 2, 2014
Application Number:
20140004627
Systems and methods are disclosed for performing laser annealing in a manner that reduces or minimizes wafer surface temperature variations during the laser annealing process. The systems and methods include annealing the wafer surface with first and second laser beams that represent preheat and anneal laser beams having respective first and second intensities. The preheat laser beam brings the wafer surface temperate close to the annealing temperature and the anneal laser beam brings…
Laser annealing systems and methods with ultra-short dwell times
Granted: December 12, 2013
Application Number:
20130330844
Laser annealing systems and methods for annealing a semiconductor wafer with ultra-short dwell times are disclosed. The laser annealing systems can include one or two laser beams that at least partially overlap. One of the laser beams is a pre-heat laser beam and the other laser beam is the annealing laser beam. The annealing laser beam scans sufficiently fast so that the dwell time is in the range from about 1 ?s to about 100 ?s. These ultra-short dwell times are useful for annealing…
Unit magnification large-format catadioptric lens for microlithography
Granted: December 5, 2013
Application Number:
20130321935
A unit magnification Wynn-Dyson lens for microlithography has an image field sized to accommodate between four and six die of dimensions 26 mm×36 mm. The lens has a positive lens group that consists of either three or four refractive lens elements, with one of the lens elements being most mirror-wise and having a prism-wise concave aspheric surface. Protective windows respectively reside between object and image planes and the corresponding prism faces. The lens is corrected for at…
Betavoltaic power sources for mobile device applications
Granted: October 24, 2013
Application Number:
20130278109
A betavoltaic power source for mobile devices and mobile applications includes a stacked configuration of isotope layers and energy conversion layers. The isotope layers have a half-life of between about 0.5 years and about 5 years and generate radiation with energy in the range from about 15 keV to about 200 keV. The betavoltaic power source is configured to provide sufficient power to operate the mobile device over its useful lifetime.
Solder Interconnect Pads with Current Spreading Layers
Granted: May 2, 2013
Application Number:
20130105971
Structure and methods of making the structures. The structures include a structure, comprising: an organic dielectric passivation layer extending over a substrate; an electrically conductive current spreading pad on a top surface of the organic dielectric passivation layer; an electrically conductive solder bump pad comprising one or more layers on a top surface of the current spreading pad; and an electrically conductive solder bump containing tin, the solder bump on a top surface of…
Minimization of Surface Reflectivity
Granted: September 6, 2012
Application Number:
20120223062
Apparatuses and methods are provided for processing a surface of a substrate. The substrate may have a surface pattern that exhibits directionally and/or orientationally different reflectivities relative to radiation of a selected wavelength and polarization. The apparatus may include a radiation source that emits a photonic beam of the selected wavelength and polarization directed toward the surface at orientation angle and incidence angle selected to substantially minimize substrate…
Thermal Processing of Substrates with Pre- and Post-Spike Temperature Contro
Granted: May 10, 2012
Application Number:
20120111838
Provided are apparatuses and method for the thermal processing of a substrate surface, e.g., controlled laser thermal annealing (LTA) of substrates. The invention typically involves irradiating the substrate surface with first and second images to process regions of the substrate surface at a substantially uniform peak processing temperature along a scan path. A first image may serve to effect spike annealing of the substrates while another may be used to provide auxiliary heat treatment…
SUBSTRATE PROCESSING WITH REDUCED WARPAGE AND/OR CONTROLLED STRAIN
Granted: March 22, 2012
Application Number:
20120071007
Provided are systems and methods for processing the surface of substrates that scan a laser beam at one or more selected orientation angles. The orientation angle or angles may be selected to reduce substrate warpage. When the substrates are semiconductor wafers having microelectronic devices, the orientation angles may be selected to produce controlled strain and to improve electronic performance of the devices.
Thermal Processing of Substrates with Pre- and Post-Spike Temperature Control
Granted: December 8, 2011
Application Number:
20110298093
Provided are apparatuses and method for the thermal processing of a substrate surface, e.g., controlled laser thermal annealing (LTA) of substrates. The invention typically involves irradiating the substrate surface with first and second images to process regions of the substrate surface at a substantially uniform peak processing temperature along a scan path. A first image may serve to effect spike annealing of the substrates while another may be used to provide auxiliary heat treatment…
Apparatuses and methods for irradiating a substrate to avoid substrate edge damage
Granted: October 13, 2011
Application Number:
20110249071
Apparatuses and methods are provided for processing a substrate having an upper surface that includes a central region, a peripheral region, and an edge adjacent to the peripheral region. An image having an intensity sufficient to effect thermal processing of the substrate is scanned across the upper surface of the substrate. The image scanning geometry allows processing the central region of the substrate at a substantially uniform temperature without damaging the outer edge. In some…
SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES FOR FORMING THREE-DIMENSIONAL CIRCUITS
Granted: April 21, 2011
Application Number:
20110089523
Provided are systems and processes for forming a three-dimensional circuit on a substrate. A radiation source produces a beam that is directed at a substrate having an isolating layer interposed between circuit layers. The circuit layers communicate with reach other via a seed region exhibiting a crystalline surface. At least one circuit layer has an initial microstructure that exhibits electronic properties unsuitable for forming circuit features therein. After being controllably heat…
Dual-sided substrate measurement apparatus and methods
Granted: March 10, 2011
Application Number:
20110058731
An apparatus for measuring the relative positions of frontside and backside alignment marks located on opposite sides of a substrate is disclosed. The apparatus includes upper and lower optical systems that allow for simultaneous imaging of frontside and backside alignment marks. The frontside and backside alignment mark images are processed to determine the relative position of the marks, as a measurement of the alignment and/or overlay performance of the tool that formed the marks on…
Substrate processing with reduced warpage and/or controlled strain
Granted: February 3, 2011
Application Number:
20110028003
Provided are systems and methods for processing the surface of substrates that scan a laser beam at one or more selected orientation angles. The orientation angle or angles may be selected to reduce substrate warpage. When the substrates are semiconductor wafers having microelectronic devices; the orientation angles may be selected to produce controlled strain and to improve electronic performance of the devices.
Laser thermal processing with laser diode radiation
Granted: April 16, 2009
Application Number:
20090095724
A method and apparatus for performing laser thermal processing (LTP) using one or more two-dimensional arrays of laser diodes and corresponding one or more LTP optical systems to form corresponding one or more line images. The line images are scanned across a substrate, e.g., by moving the substrate relative to the one or more line images. The apparatus also includes one or more recycling optical systems arranged to re-image reflected annealing radiation back onto the substrate. The use…
Apparatuses and methods for irradiating a substrate to avoid substrate edge damage
Granted: July 24, 2008
Application Number:
20080173620
Apparatuses and methods are provided for processing a substrate having an upper surface that includes a central region, a peripheral region, and an edge adjacent to the peripheral region. An image having an intensity sufficient to effect thermal processing of the substrate is scanned across the upper surface of the substrate. The image scanning geometry allows processing the central region of the substrate at a substantially uniform temperature without damaging the outer edge. In some…
CO2 laser stabilization systems and methods
Granted: August 10, 2006
Application Number:
20060176917
Systems and methods for stabilizing a CO2 laser are disclosed. The system includes a detector unit for measuring the power in a select portion of the output beam. The detector unit generates an electrical signal corresponding to the measured power. The modulation frequency of the signal used to modulate the relatively high-frequency radio-frequency (RF) pump signal is filtered from the electrical signal. The filtered electrical signal is then compared to a desired value for the output…
