1. An implant, comprising:
an elongate threaded portion; and
a blade portion extending from the elongate threaded portion, the blade portion having a taper terminating at a point.
2. The implant of claim 1, wherein the blade portion includes a plurality of serrated edges.
3. The implant of claim 1, wherein the blade portion tapers along its width and thickness to the point.
4. The implant of claim 1, further comprising an engagement portion disposed between the threaded portion and the blade portion, the engagement portion including a projection extending in a direction away from an axis defined by the elongate threaded portion.
5. The implant of claim 4, wherein the direction is approximately perpendicular to the axis defined by the threaded portion.
6. The implant of claim 1, further comprising an engagement portion disposed between the threaded portion and the blade portion, the engagement portion including a pair of projections extending in opposite directions from an axis defined by the elongate threaded portion.
7. The implant of claim 1, wherein the blade portion extends from the elongate threaded member at angle with respect to an axis defined by the elongate threaded member.
8. The implant of claim 7, wherein the angle is between zero and 45 degrees.
9. A method, comprising:
forming an incision to gain access to a joint between first and second bones;
flexing the first and second bones such that the bones are disposed at an angle from one another;
advancing a threaded portion of an implant into the first bone, the implant including a blade portion extending from the elongate threaded portion;
repositioning the second bone such that a middle of the second bone is approximately aligned with the blade portion of the implant; and
forcing the second bone into engagement with the blade portion of the implant.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
pre-drilling or broaching the second bone prior to forcing the second bone into engagement with the blade portion of the implant.
11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
resecting an end of each the first and second bones prior to advancing the elongate threaded portion of the implant into the first bone.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the first bone is one of a proximal phalanx or a middle phalanx of a foot, and the second bone is the other of the proximal phalanx or the middle phalanx of a foot.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein the blade portion of the implant extends from the elongate threaded member at angle with respect to an axis defined by the elongate threaded member.
14. The method of claim 9, wherein the implant includes an engagement portion disposed between the threaded portion and the blade portion, the engagement portion including a projection extending from an axis defined by the elongate threaded portion.
15. A surgical assembly, comprising:
an implant including:
a threaded ended, and
a blade end extending from the threaded end, the blade end tapering along its thickness and its width to a point and including a plurality of serrated edges; and
a driving assembly including:
a handle,
a driving rod extending from the handle, and
an adapter coupled to an end of the driving rod, the adapter having a body defining a slot at one end that is sized and configured to receive the blade end of the implant.
16. The surgical assembly of claim 15, wherein the blade end extends from the threaded end in a direction that is disposed at an angle with respect to an axis defined by the threaded end.
17. The surgical assembly of claim 15, wherein the adapter body defines a circumferential groove sized and configured to receive an o-ring for coupling the implant to the adapter.
18. The surgical assembly of claim 15, wherein the o-ring is disposed within a valley of at least one of the serrated edges of the implant when the implant is disposed within the slot defined by the adapter.
19. The surgical assembly of claim 15, wherein the implant includes an engagement portion disposed between the threaded portion and the blade portion, the engagement portion including a projection extending in a direction away from an axis defined by the elongate threaded portion.
20. The surgical assembly of claim 19, wherein the engagement portion includes a pair of projections radially extending in opposite directions from one another.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of reclaiming test substrates used to test semiconductor fabrication tools, comprising:
reading a plurality of test substrate identification data from a plurality of test substrates; and
obtaining from a database, for each read test substrate, stored reclamation process identification data identifying the reclamation process selected to reclaim each read test substrate.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising sorting said read plurality of test substrates into a plurality of groups, each group of test substrates having associated therewith a common reclamation process selected to reclaim each read test substrate of the group.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein said plurality of groups of said sorting comprises a first group which comprises test substrates having nonmetal depositions and excludes test substrates having metal depositions.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein said plurality of groups of said sorting comprises a second group which consists of test substrates exposed to copper.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein said plurality of groups of said sorting comprises a third group which comprises test substrates having metal deposition and excludes test substrates which have been exposed to copper.
6. The method of claim 2 further comprising reclaiming each read test substrate of each group using the common reclamation selected to reclaim each read test substrate of the group.
7. The method of claim 2 further comprising storing each group of read test substrate in a cassette and labeling the cassette of each group with indicia representing said common reclamation process associated with the group.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising labeling the cassette of each group with indicia representing the test substrate identification data of each test substrate stored in the cassette of the group.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein said test substrate is fabricated from a material selected from the group consisting of silicon, gallium arsenide, germanium, and glass.
10. The method of claim 1 further comprising reclaiming each read test substrate using the reclamation process selected to reclaim that read test substrate as identified by the stored reclamation process identification data.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein an identified reclamation process includes removing all layers deposited on a test substrate.
12. A method of reclaiming test substrates used to test semiconductor fabrication tools, comprising:
storing into a database, a plurality of test substrate identification data, each test substrate identification data identifying a particular test substrate of a plurality of test substrates;
selecting a reclamation process from a plurality of reclamation processes, for reclaiming each of said plurality of test substrates identified by said plurality of test substrate identification data; and
storing into said database, a plurality of test substrate reclamation process identification data, each stored test substrate reclamation process identification data being associated with a stored test substrate identification data wherein each stored test substrate reclamation process identification data identifies the reclamation process selected to reclaim the test substrate identified by the stored test substrate identification data associated with the stored test substrate reclamation process identification data.
13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:
reading test substrate identification data from a test substrate of said plurality of test substrates; and
obtaining from said database, stored reclamation process identification data identifying the reclamation process selected to reclaim said read test substrate.
14. The method of claim 13 further comprising storing said read test substrate in a cassette and labeling said cassette with indicia representing said obtained reclamation process identification data.
15. The method of claim 12 further comprising electronically transmitting said database to a reclamation operator.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein said electronically transmitting includes transmitting said database via the Internet.
17. The method of claim 12 further comprising electronically storing said database on removable storage media and sending said removable media to a reclamation operator.
18. The method of claim 12 further comprising:
reading a plurality of test substrate identification data from said plurality of test substrates;
obtaining from said database for each read test substrate, stored reclamation process identification data identifying the reclamation process selected to reclaim each read test substrate; and
sorting said read plurality of test substrates into groups, each group of test substrates having associated therewith a common reclamation process selected to reclaim each read test substrate of the group.
19. The method of claim 18 further comprising storing each group of read test substrate in a cassette and labeling the cassette of each group with indicia representing said common reclamation process associated with the group.
20. The method of claim 19 further comprising labeling the cassette of each group with indicia representing the test substrate identification data of each test substrate stored in the cassette of the group.
21. The method of claim 12 wherein an identified reclamation process includes removing all layers deposited on a test substrate.
22. A method of reclaiming test substrates used to test semiconductor fabrication tools, comprising:
reading from a first database a plurality of test substrate identification data, each test substrate identification data identifying a particular test substrate of a plurality of test substrates;
reading from said database process steps performed on each of said plurality of test substrates identified by said plurality of test substrate identification data;
selecting a reclamation process from a plurality of reclamation processes, for reclaiming each of said plurality of test substrates wherein the reclamation process selected for a particular test substrate is a function of the process steps performed on the particular test substrate;
storing into a second database, a plurality of test substrate identification data, each test substrate identification data identifying a particular test substrate of said plurality of test substrates; and
storing into said second database, a plurality of test substrate reclamation process identification data, each stored test substrate reclamation process identification data in said second database being associated with a stored test substrate identification data in said second database wherein each stored test substrate reclamation process identification data in said second database identifies the reclamation process selected to reclaim the test substrate identified by the stored test substrate identification data associated with the stored test substrate reclamation process identification data.
23. The method of claim 22 further comprising storing into said second database, data representing said process steps performed on each of said plurality of test substrates identified by said plurality of test substrate identification data.
24. The method of claim 23 further comprising wherein said process steps include material depositions and said data representing said process steps includes data representing the type of material deposited and the thickness of the deposited material in a process step.
25. The method of claim 23 further comprising wherein said process steps include ion implantations and said data representing said process steps includes data representing the type of ion implanted and the depth of the implanted ions in a process step.
26. The method of claim 23 further comprising wherein said process steps include etching, chemical and mechanical polishing and thermal treatments.
27. A method of reclaiming test substrates used to test semiconductor fabrication tools, comprising:
storing into a database, a first plurality of test substrate identification data, each test substrate identification data identifying a particular test substrate of a first plurality of test substrates stored in slots in a first substrate storage container;
storing into said database a first substrate storage container identification data which is associated with said first plurality of test substrate identification data wherein said first substrate storage container identification data identifies the substrate storage container in which said first plurality of test substrates are stored;
selecting a first reclamation process from a plurality of reclamation processes, for reclaiming each of said first plurality of test substrates identified by said first plurality of test substrate identification data; and
storing into said database, a first test substrate reclamation process identification data associated with said first plurality of test substrate storage identification data wherein said stored first test substrate reclamation process identification data identifies said first reclamation process selected to reclaim said first plurality of test substrates stored in said first substrate storage container identified by said stored first substrate storage container identification data associated with said stored first test substrate reclamation process identification data.
28. The method of claim 27 further comprising:
storing into said database, a second plurality of test substrate identification data, each test substrate identification data identifying a particular test substrate of a second plurality of test substrates stored in slots in a second substrate storage container;
storing into said database a second substrate storage container identification data which is associated with said second plurality of test substrate identification data wherein said second substrate storage container identification data identifies said second substrate storage container in which said second plurality of test substrates are stored;
selecting a second reclamation process from a plurality of reclamation processes, for reclaiming each of said second plurality of test substrates identified by said second plurality of test substrate identification data; and
storing into said database, a second test substrate reclamation process identification data associated with said second plurality of test substrate storage identification data wherein said stored second test substrate reclamation process identification data identifies said second reclamation process selected to reclaim said second plurality of test substrates stored in said second substrate storage container identified by said stored second substrate storage container identification data associated with said stored second test substrate reclamation process identification data.
29. The method of claim 27 further comprising storing a plurality of data representing a slot number wherein each slot number data identifies the slot of the first storage container in which each of said first plurality of test substrates are stored.
30. A system adapted for use with a plurality of test substrates for testing semiconductor fabrication tools wherein each test substrate bears an identification code, comprising:
a plurality of test substrate storage containers, each test storage container being associated with one of a plurality of predetermined reclamation processes;
a robot adapted to transfer a test substrate to a storage container;
a reader adapted to read an identification code from a test substrate; and
a controller having a memory adapted to store data representative of the identification code for each test substrate of said plurality of said substrates and data representative of a predetermined reclamation process in association with each stored identification code data for each substrate, said controller being responsive to said reader and adapted to control said robot to transfer a test substrate to a substrate storage container having an associated predetermined reclamation process which matches the predetermined reclamation process associated with the identification code data stored in said controller memory for the test substrate being transferred by said robot.
31. An article of manufacture for reclaiming test substrates used to test semiconductor fabrication tools, wherein the article of manufacture comprises code implemented in a computer readable medium capable of causing a processor to perform:
storing into a database, a plurality of test substrate identification data, each test substrate identification data identifying a particular test substrate of a plurality of test substrates;
selecting a reclamation process from a plurality of reclamation processes, for reclaiming each of said plurality of test substrates identified by said plurality of test substrate identification data; and
storing into said database, a plurality of test substrate reclamation process identification data, each stored test substrate reclamation process identification data being associated with a stored test substrate identification data wherein each stored test substrate reclamation process identification data identifies the reclamation process selected to reclaim the test substrate identified by the stored test substrate identification data associated with the stored test substrate reclamation process identification data.
32. The article of claim 31 wherein an identified reclamation process includes removing all layers deposited on a test substrate.
33. A computer readable medium including a computer database of data, for reclaiming test substrates used to test semiconductor fabrication tool, comprising:
a plurality of test substrate identification data, each test substrate identification data identifying a particular test substrate of a plurality of test substrates; and
a plurality of test substrate reclamation process identification data, each test substrate reclamation process identification data being associated with a test substrate identification data wherein each stored test substrate reclamation process identification data identifies a reclamation process selected to reclaim the test substrate identified by the test substrate identification data associated with the test substrate reclamation process identification data.
34. The medium of claim 33 wherein an identified reclamation process includes removing all layers deposited on a test substrate.
35. A test device for testing processing steps performed by semiconductor fabrication tools, comprising:
a test substrate having first identification indicia representing a first identification code, and second identification indicia representing reclamation data for said test substrate.
36. The test device of claim 35 wherein said second identification indicia are laser inscribed.
37. The test device of claim 35 wherein said second identification indicia represent a reclamation category selected from reclamation categories which include a copper reclamation category.
38. The test device of claim 35 wherein said second identification indicia represent a reclamation process to which the test substrate is to be subjected, and wherein the reclamation process includes removing all layers deposited on a test substrate.