[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 7, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 68331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31682]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Notice of Prospective Grant of Exclusive Patent License

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

SUMMARY: This is a notice in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c)(1) and 37 
CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i) that the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (``NIST''), U.S. Department of Commerce, is contemplating 
the grant of an exclusive license world-wide to NIST's interest in the 
invention embodied in U.S. Patent Application 09/058,182, titled, 
``Microroughness-Blind Optical Scattering Instrument'', filed April 10, 
1998; NIST Docket No. 97-014US to ADE Corporation, having a place of 
business at 80 Wilson Way, Westwood, MA. The grant of the license would 
be for all fields of use.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dale D. Berkley, National Institute of 
Standards and Technology, Office of Technology Program, Building 820, 
Room 213, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The prospective exclusive license will be 
royalty-bearing and will comply with the terms and conditions of 35 
U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. The prospective exclusive license may be 
granted unless, within sixty days from the date of this published 
Notice, NIST receives written evidence and argument which establish 
that the grant of the license would not be consistent with the 
requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. The availability of the 
invention for licensing was published in the Federal Register, Vol. 63, 
No. 131 (July 9, 1998).

    U.S. Patent application 09/058,182 is owned by the U.S. Government, 
as represented by the Secretary of Commerce. The present invention 
relates to a microroughness-blind optical scanner for detecting 
particulate contamination on bare silicon wagers focuses p-polarized 
light onto the surface of a sample. Scattered light is collected 
through independently rotatable polarizers by one or more collection 
systems uniformly distributed over a hemispherical shell centered over 
the sample. The polarizer associated with each collection system is 
rotated to cancel the corresponding Jones vector, thereby preventing 
detection of microroughness-scattered light, yielding higher 
sensitivity to particulate defects. The sample is supported on a 
positioning system permitting the beam to be scanned over the sample 
surface of interest.

    Dated: December 1, 1999.
Karen H. Brown,
Deputy Director.
[FR Doc. 99-31682 Filed 12-6-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-M