Process for detection of sub-micron particulate contamination on a bare (planar) substrate

Kenneth H. Davis; R. E. Folsom; F. Ivy Carroll; Phillip C. Cooley; Lyle M. Retzlaff; Michael F. Weeks; H. Koo; Herbert H. Seltzman; E. Pellizzari; Deborah W. McFadden; Roger D. Austin; Martin B. Lee; Judith T. Lynch; Debra M. Fleischmann; Carol Place; Stephen D. Cooper; Rick L. Williams; Lillie B. Barber; Doris J. Rouse; Ivey A. McDaniel; Charlotte O. Scheper; Paul Kizakevich; Donna M. Jewell; Marion E. Deerhake; Cora B. Parker; Eugene P. Brantly; Phyllis D. Elkins; Patricia A. Cunningham; Robert S. Truesdale; Sara C. Wheeless; Robert M. Bray; Cynthia A. Salmons; Gary B. Howe; Coleen M. Northeim; Susan K. Myers; Gordon M. Cressman; Josephine A. Mauskopf; Tim J. Gabel; Luis Arturo Crouch; Celia D. Keller; Lisa E. Packer; Pamela B. Lamb; Keith White Little; Nathaniel F. Rodman; M. Owen; James P. Hayes; Daniel L. Winfield; Deborah A. Gibbs; Janice E. Kelly-Reid; Wayne G. Winstead; Cindy O. McClintock; Terrence K. Pierson; Johnny R. Albritton; Sherry L. Black; Jeffrey B. Coburn; Joe B. Simpson; Ed E. Rickman; James T. Hanley; R. Suresh; Barbara L. Kroner; K. Heller; James C. Blake; Barri B. Burrus; Anthony C. Clayton; Donna S. Womack; S. Mascarella; Scott A. Guthrie; Sheryl C. Cates; Albert D. Bethke; Suson F. VonLehmden; Kathryn L. Dowd; Daniel J. Pratt; Lisa J. McQuay; Matthew A. Koch; Jonathan T. Ennis; Robert A. Zerbonia; Nick L. Kinsey; Susan H. Kinsey; Christopher P. Carson; J. Newsome; S. Keesling; James A. O'Rourke; Kathryn R. Batts; Craig R. Hollingsworth; Priya Suresh; Joseph Wendell Wilson; Vorapranee Wickelgren; E. Andrew Jessup; Diana S. Goss; Sheri E. Fehnel; Gayle S. Bieler; Donna P. Coleman; R. Crawford; Jeanne Ann Snodgrass; Nellie I. Hansen; Michelle Lang; Deirdre M. Mladsi; Gary A. Zarkin; Rachel A. Caspar; Carol L. Woodell; V Menon

Process for detection of sub-micron particulate contamination on a bare (planar) substrate

Menon, V. (1991). Process for detection of sub-micron particulate contamination on a bare (planar) substrate. (U.S. Patent No. 5061068). http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=5061068

Copy citation

Abstract

Particular contamination below about 0.3 microns in average diameter on an IC wafer substrate is detected by forming a film of a volatile liquid on the wafer's surface and observing interference patterns formed by particles during the evaporation process. These interference patterns magnify the "effective" particle size many times, making detection through an optical microscope possible.