A method for transferring electronic elements includes providing a transfer substrate including a transfer surface, and disposing electronic elements on the transfer surface; providing a target substrate including a target surface, and disposing the target substrate opposite to the transfer substrate, so that the transfer surface faces toward the target surface; providing a guiding mask including at least one guiding structure, and disposing the guiding mask between the transfer substrate and the target substrate; and releasing at least one of the electronic elements disposed on the transfer surface, and guiding the at least one of the electronic elements by the at least one guiding structure, so as to transfer the at least one of the electronic elements to the target surface of the target substrate. The present invention can achieve a high transferring yield rate even under a condition of low equipment accuracy and low equipment stability.

A substrate aligner providing minimal substrate transporter extend and retract motions to quickly align substrate without back side damage while increasing the throughput of substrate processing. In one embodiment, the aligner having an inverted chuck connected to a frame with a substrate transfer system capable of transferring substrate from chuck to transporter without rotationally repositioning substrate. The inverted chuck eliminates aligner obstruction of substrate fiducials and along with the transfer system, allows transporter to remain within the frame during alignment. In another embodiment, the aligner has a rotatable sensor head connected to a frame and a substrate support with transparent rest pads for supporting the substrate during alignment so transporter can remain within the frame during alignment. Substrate alignment is performed independent of fiducial placement on support pads. In other embodiments the substrate support employs a buffer system for buffering substrate inside the apparatus allowing for fast swapping of substrates.

Following a determination that the distance along the Z-direction between the substrate and the mask is greater than the distance along the Z-direction to the nearest end of depth of field (DOF) for a camera from the near side of the mask, a control unit reduces the distance between the X-Y position of a substrate-mark and the X-Y position of the associated mask-mark, with a high-speed relative approach along the Z-direction between the substrate and the mask. Following a determination that the distance along the Z-direction between the substrate and the mask is equal to or less than the distance along the Z-direction to the nearest end of depth of field (DOF) from the near side of the mask, the control unit reduces the distance between the X-Y position of the substrate-mark and the X-Y position of the associated mask-mark, with a reduced-speed relative approach along the Z-direction.

A shadow mask having two or more levels of openings enables selective step coverage of micro-fabricated structures within a micro-optical bench device. The shadow mask includes a first opening within a top surface of the shadow mask and a second opening within the bottom surface of the shadow mask. The second opening is aligned with the first opening and has a second width less than a first width of the first opening. An overlap between the first opening and the second opening forms a hole within the shadow mask through which selective coating of micro-fabricated structures within the micro-optical bench device may occur.

A vapor deposition mask includes a mask main body and a support joined to the mask main body. The mask main body has a first alignment mark whereas the support has a second alignment mark. The first alignment mark and the second alignment are provided at such positions as to overlap with each other in plan view, and either one of the alignment marks is larger than the other of the alignment marks.

An optical system may include a light source to provide a beam of light. The optical system may include a reflector to receive and redirect the beam of light. The optical system may include a light gate having an opening to permit the beam of light, from the reflector, to travel through the opening. The optical system may include a light sensor to receive a portion of the beam of light after the beam of light travels through the opening, and convert the portion of the beam of light to a signal. The optical system may include a processing device to determine whether a notch of a wafer is in an allowable position based on the signal.

A computer-implemented method of using a control module to control a lithographic apparatus includes pre-calculating, using a processor, a library of pupil images for a measuring spot of an object-under-test, wherein each pupil image represents a simulated structure of the object-under-test at the measuring spot given a particular set of configuration values and a particular probing wavelength used for testing the object-under-test using scatterometry. The method further includes, in response to receiving a real-time pupil image when testing the object-under-test using scatterometry, comparing, using the processor, the real-time pupil image with the library of pupil images to identify a best match from the library. The method further includes outputting a set of configuration values associated with the best match from the library.

The present invention provides a processing system that includes a first apparatus and a second apparatus, and processes a substrate, wherein the first apparatus includes a first measurement unit configured to detect a first structure and a second structure different from the first structure provided on the substrate, and measure a relative position between the first structure and the second structure, and the second apparatus includes an obtainment unit configured to obtain the relative position measured by the first measurement unit, a second measurement unit configured to detect the second structure and measure a position of the second structure, and a control unit configured to obtain a position of the first structure based on the relative position obtained by the obtainment unit and the position of the second structure measured by the second measurement unit.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to forming multi-depth films for the fabrication of optical devices. One embodiment includes disposing a base layer of a device material on a surface of a substrate. One or more mandrels of the device material are disposed on the base layer. The disposing the one or more mandrels includes positioning a mask over of the base layer. The device material is deposited with the mask positioned over the base layer to form an optical device having the base layer with a base layer depth and the one or more mandrels having a first mandrel depth and a second mandrel depth.

Provided is a semiconductor device includes a substrate, an isolation structure, an alignment mark, and a dielectric layer. The substrate includes a first region and a second region. The isolation structure is disposed in the substrate in the first region, wherein the isolation structure extends from a first surface of the substrate toward a second surface of the substrate.

The alignment mark is disposed in the substrate in the second region. The alignment mark extends from the first surface of the substrate toward the second surface of the substrate and at the same level as the isolation structure. The dielectric layer is buried in the substrate in the second region and overlapping the alignment mark.