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AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorAnton J. Miller
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A method of improving the yield and achievable tolerances of integrated circuits by obtaining surface measurements of non-reflective soft mounting films used in integrated circuit manufacture. The non-reflective surface of a mounting film is first rendered reflective by applying a reflective water atop the film surface. This reflective test wafer, which is highly plano-parallel and preferably has a thickness less than that of the ultimate product wafer, is applied to the mounting film to be measured via direct pressure whereby the reflective test wafer conforms to and takes on the surface characteristics and contours of the film. The formerly non-reflective surface of the mounting film is thereby rendered effectively reflective and thus susceptible to optical profiling and graphical and numerical recordation by a computerized interferometer in accordance with well-known techniques. The mounting film may then be critically applied during integrated circuit manufacture, during initial wafer forming and/or during chemo-mechanical polishing for layer planarization.
A method of determining surface characteristics of an essentially non-reflective mounting film prior to mounting a workpiece to the film, the method comprising the steps of:
A method of determining surface characteristics of an essentially non-reflective soft mounting film prior to mounting a workpiece to the film, the method comprising the steps of:
A method of improving the flatness characteristics of a semiconductor product wafer subjected to chemo-mechanical polishing while mounted upon mounting film, the method comprising the steps of:
A method of manufacturing integrated circuits comprising the steps of:
A method of determining surface characteristics of an essentially non-reflective mounting film, the method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.