Fluid-tight electrical connection techniques for semiconductor processing
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12290897
A chemical mechanical polishing assembly includes a chemical mechanical polishing system, a fluid source, and a fluid delivery conduit to carry a fluid from the fluid source into the chemical mechanical polishing system. The polishing system has a platen to support a polishing pad, a carrier head to support a substrate and bring the substrate into contact with the polishing pad, and a motor to cause relative motion between platen and the carrier head. The fluid delivery conduit includes…
Methods of fabricating OLED panel with inorganic pixel encapsulating barrier
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12295215
Embodiments described herein relate to sub-pixel circuits and methods of forming sub-pixel circuits that may be utilized in a display such as an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display. The device includes a plurality of sub-pixels, each sub-pixel of the plurality of sub-pixels defined by adjacent pixel-defining layer (PDL) structures with inorganic overhang structures disposed on the PDL structures, each sub-pixel having an anode, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) material…
Securing a wafer to a chuck
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12293936
A system that includes a vacuum module that includes a first vacuum source, a first vacuum propagation path, a second vacuum source, and a second vacuum propagation path. The first vacuum source is configured to provide first vacuum of a first vacuum level, via the first vacuum propagation path, to a chuck. The chuck is mounted on a mechanical stage. The second vacuum source is configured to provide second vacuum at a second vacuum level, via the second vacuum propagation path, to the…
Using controlled gas pressure for backside wafer support
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12293934
Embodiments described herein provide substrate support assemblies for retaining a surface of a substrate having one or more devices disposed on one or more surfaces of the substrate without contacting the one or more devices and preventing changes in profile of the substrate. The substrate support assembly allows for control of the substrate. The substrate support assembly includes a gas nozzle disposed through a body of the substrate support assembly. The gas nozzle provides a gas to…
Process kit for a substrate support
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12293902
Methods and apparatus for processing substrates are provided herein. In some embodiments, a process kit for a substrate support includes: an upper edge ring made of quartz and having an upper surface and a lower surface, wherein the upper surface is substantially planar and the lower surface includes a stepped lower surface to define a radially outermost portion and a radially innermost portion of the upper edge ring.
Radio frequency diverter assembly enabling on-demand different spatial
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12293897
A method and apparatus for spatially switching radio frequency (RF) power from a single RF power generator to a selected one of two or more impedance matching networks coupled to associated RF electrodes for forming plasma in a plasma chamber. Full RF power may be switched within microseconds to the selected one of the two or more impedance matching networks. The two or more impedance matching networks may be coupled to one or more plasma generating electrodes. The two or more impedance…
Data inspection for digital lithography for HVM using offline and inline approach
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12292693
In embodiments of a digital lithography system, physical design data prepared at a data prep server in a hierarchical data structure. A leaf node comprises a repeater nod, comprising a bitmap image and a plurality of locations at which the bitmap appears in a physical design. At an EYE server, a repeater node bitmap is adjusted based upon, for example, spatial light modulator rotational adjustment and substrate distortion. The adjusted repeater node and the plurality of locations in…
Flexible multi-layered cover lens stacks for foldable displays
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12292635
Embodiments described and discussed herein generally relate to flexible or foldable display devices, and more specifically to flexible cover lens assemblies. In one or more embodiments, a flexible cover lens assembly contains a glass layer, an adhesion promotion layer on the glass layer, an anti-reflectance layer disposed on the adhesion promotion layer, a dry hardcoat layer having a nano-indentation hardness in a range from about 1 GPa to about 5 GPa and disposed on the anti-reflectance…
Flexible multi-layered cover lens stacks for foldable displays
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12292634
Embodiments described and discussed herein generally relate to flexible or foldable display devices, and more specifically to flexible cover lens assemblies. In one or more embodiments, a flexible cover lens assembly contains a glass layer, an adhesion promotion layer on the glass layer, an anti-reflectance layer disposed on the adhesion promotion layer, a dry hardcoat layer having a nano-indentation hardness in a range from about 1 GPa to about 5 GPa and disposed on the anti-reflectance…
Methods of selective atomic layer deposition
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12291779
Methods of depositing a film selectively onto a first substrate surface relative to a second substrate surface are described. The methods include exposing the substrate surfaces to a blocking compound to selectively form a blocking layer on at least a portion of the first surface over the second surface. The substrate is sequentially exposed to a metal precursor with a kinetic diameter in excess of 21 angstroms and a reactant to selectively form a metal-containing layer on the second…
Apparatus and method for CMP temperature control
Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number:
12290896
A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen to hold a polishing pad, a carrier to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad during a polishing process, and a temperature control system including a source of a fluid medium and one or more openings positioned over the platen and separated from the polishing pad and configured for the fluid medium to flow onto the polishing pad to heat or cool the polishing pad.
Wafer edge asymmetry correction using groove in polishing pad
Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number:
12285838
A chemical mechanical polishing system includes a platen to hold a polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad, and a controller. The polishing pad has a polishing control groove. The carrier is laterally movable by a first actuator across the polishing pad and rotatable by a second actuator. The controller synchronizes lateral oscillation of the carrier head with rotation of the carrier head such that over a plurality of successive…
Region classification of film non-uniformity based on processing of substrate images
Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number:
12288724
A method of classification of a film non-uniformity on a substrate includes obtaining a color image of a substrate with the color image comprising a plurality of color channels, obtaining a standard color for the color image of the substrate, for each respective pixel along a path in the color image determining a difference vector between the a color of the respective pixel and the standard color to generate a sequence of difference vectors, sorting the pixels along the path into a…
Metal based hydrogen barrier
Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number:
12288717
A method of forming an electronic device is disclosed. The method comprises forming depositing a metal on a substrate, the metal comprising one or more of copper (Cu), titanium (Ti), or tantalum (Ta). A metal cap is deposited on the metal. The metal cap comprises one or more of molybdenum (Mo), ruthenium (Ru), iridium (Ir), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), silver (Ag), osmium (Os), platinum (Pt), or gold (Au). The substrate is then exposed to an anneal process, e.g., a hydrogen…
Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate
Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number:
12288704
Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided herein. For example, an apparatus for processing a substrate comprises a transfer robot configured to position a substrate on a substrate support disposed within an interior of a processing chamber configured to process the substrate and a sensor disposed on the transfer robot, operably connected to a controller of the processing chamber, and configured with an angle of view to provide in-situ continuous closed loop feedback…
Vertically adjustable plasma source
Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number:
12288677
The disclosure describes a plasma source assemblies comprising a differential screw assembly, an RF hot electrode, a top cover, an upper housing and a lower housing. The differential screw assembly is configured to provide force to align the plasma source assembly vertically matching planarity of a susceptor. More particularly, the differential screw assembly increases a distance between the top cover and the upper housing to align the gap with the susceptor. The disclosure also provides…
Cylindrical cavity with impedance shifting by irises in a power-supplying waveguide
Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number:
12288675
A plasma reactor has a cylindrical microwave cavity overlying a workpiece processing chamber, a microwave source having a pair of microwave source outputs, and a pair of respective waveguides. The cavity has first and second input ports in a sidewall and space apart by an azimuthal angle. Each of the waveguides has a microwave input end coupled to a microwave source output and a microwave output end coupled to a respective one of the first and second input ports, a coupling aperture…
Pulsed DC power for deposition of film
Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number:
12288670
A vapor deposition system and methods of operation thereof are disclosed. The vapor deposition system includes a vacuum chamber; a dielectric target within the vacuum chamber, the dielectric target having a front surface and a thickness; a substrate support within the vacuum chamber, the substrate support having a front surface spaced from the front surface of the dielectric target to form a process gap; and a signal generator connected to the dielectric target to generate a plasma in…
Entropy based image processing for focused ion beam delayer-edge slices detection
Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number:
12288668
A method of delayering a sample that includes a second layer formed under a first layer, where the first and second layers are different materials or different texture, the method including: acquiring a plurality of gray scale images of the region of interest in an iterative process by alternating a sequence of delayering the region of interest with a first charged particle beam and imaging a surface of the region of interest with a second charged particle beam; after each iteration of…
Image based metrology of surface deformations
Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number:
12288350
Methods for detecting areas of localized tilt on a sample using imaging reflectometry measurements include obtaining a first image without blocking any light reflected from the sample and obtaining a second image while blocking some light reflected from the sample at the aperture plane. The areas of localized tilt are detected by comparing first reflectance intensity values of pixels in the first image with second reflectance intensity values of corresponding pixels in the second image.
