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US 2004/0169862 A1Published application
Wafer alignment device and method
OwnerDave Alan Heisley, Ravinthiran Balasingam +2inventors
InventorsDave Alan Heisley, Ravinthiran Balasingam, Gregory Stewart Waterfall, Russell Eugene Barcey
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An alignment target structure includes a reflective member and a non-reflective field proximate to the member. The field is configured to enhance identification of the target and/or to enhance contrast between the member and the field. The field may include an absorptive structure and/or a diffractive structure.
Claims30
An alignment target comprising:
- a reflective member;
- and
- a non-reflective field configured to be proximate to said reflective member and comprising an absorptive material and a scattering structure, wherein said absorptive material comprises a poly-crystalline material.
An alignment target comprising:
- a reflective member;
- and
- a non-reflective field configured to be proximate to said reflective member and comprising at least one of an absorptive material and a scattering structure.
A wafer alignment system comprising:
- a photo-detector;
- a wafer configured to be scanned by a beam from said photo-detector;
- wherein said wafer comprises an alignment target further comprising:
- a reflective member;
- and
- a non-reflective field configured to be proximate to said reflective member and comprising at least one of an absorptive material and a scattering structure, wherein said non-reflective field is configured to enhance contrast in the amount of said beam reflected to said photo-detector by said non-reflective field and said reflective member and thereby enhance wafer alignment.
3 more elements
A method of aligning a wafer comprising the steps of:
- shining a beam of light from a light source onto a wafer;
- reflecting a portion of said beam of light from a reflective member to a photo-detector;
- reflecting a reduced portion of said beam of light from a non-reflective field to said photo-detector, wherein said reflecting a reduced portion step comprises at least one of the steps of:
- absorbing a portion of said beam of light and reflecting a portion of said beam of light away from said photo-detector;
- identifying a current position of said wafer based on the contrast in said beam of light reflected from said reflective member and said non-reflective field;
- and
- adjusting the position of said wafer based on said current position of said wafer.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.