Copper contamination control of in-line probe instruments
AssigneeLSI Logic Corporation
InventorsGail D. Shelton, Gayle W. Miller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Radio frequency photo conductive decay is used to monitor a small piece of high-grade silicon to determine if copper contamination has been removed from a probe tool. A probe tool is placed in contact with a small "waferette" of silicon repeatedly until the copper signal is diminished, indicating that the tool may be used for other products without concern for copper contamination.
Claims28
A method for testing for copper contamination on a probe instrument having a tip comprising the steps of:
- (a) touching the tip of said probe instrument on a cleaning pad suitable for removing copper contamination from said tip;
- and
- (b) testing the cleaning pad to determine if any copper contamination has been removed from said tip.
A method for testing for contamination on a probe instrument having a tip comprising the steps of:
- (a) bringing the tip of said probe instrument into temporary physical contact with a cleaning pad;
- (b) bringing the tip of said probe instrument into temporary physical contact with a measurement pad;
- and
- (c) testing the measurement pad to determine if any contamination has been removed from said tip.
The method of claim 9 wherein the cleaning pad of step (a) is comprised of silicon.
A method for testing for copper contamination on a probe instrument having a tip comprising the steps of:
- (a) touching the tip of said probe instrument on a cleaning pad suitable for removing copper contamination from said tip;
- (b) touching the tip of said probe instrument on a measurement pad suitable for removing copper contamination from said tip;
- (c) placing said measurement pad in a liquid medium;
- (d) energizing said measurement pad;
- and
- (e) monitoring the measurement pad's conductivity to determine the presence of copper on the measurement pad.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.