Patent ID: 9401278
Filing Date: 2016-07-26
CPC Classification: H01L

Claim Text:
1. A method for processing a semiconductor substrate, the method comprising the steps of: (a) generating at least one photonic beam capable of forming a putative unmodified image having a substantially uniform intensity profile over a useful portion thereof on the substrate surface, wherein the useful portion of putative unmodified image has an energy utilization; (b) modifying the intensity profile of the at least one photonic beam to form an actual image on a surface of the substrate, the image having a substantially uniform intensity profile over a useful portion thereof, wherein the useful portion of the actual image has an energy utilization that is at least 30% greater than the energy utilization of a useful portion of the putative unmodified image; and (c) scanning the image across the substrate surface to heat at least a portion of the substrate at and/or near the surface to achieve a desired temperature within a predetermined dwell time, D.