Identifying Components Associated With A Fault In A Plasma System
AssigneeLam Research Corporation
InventorSeyed Jafar Jafarian-Tehrani
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for identifying a faulty component in a plasma tool is described. The method includes accessing a measurement of a parameter received from a frequency generator and measurement device. The measurement is generated based on a plurality of radio frequency (RF) signals that are provided to a portion of a plasma tool. The RF signals have one or more ranges of frequencies. The method further includes determining whether the parameter indicates an error, which indicates a fault in the portion of the plasma tool. The method includes identifying limits of the frequencies in which the error occurs and identifying based on the limits of the frequencies in which the error occurs one or more components of the portion of the plasma tool creating the error.
Claims25
A method comprising:
- applying a plurality of frequencies across a frequency band for operational states of a baseline plasma system, the frequency band includes a plurality of frequency ranges of the frequencies;
- modeling the baseline plasma system to determine a model parameter of the baseline plasma system;
- associating a portion of the frequency band corresponding to the model parameter to one or more faulty components of the baseline plasma system;
- iteratively testing a target plasma system with a frequency generator and measurement device (FGMD) to apply each of the frequency ranges of the frequency band to identify one of the frequency ranges from the frequency band, wherein the FGMD replaces a plurality of radio frequency (RF) generators of the baseline plasma system to connect to a transmission line of the target plasma system;
- and
- identifying one or more of the components having a fault based on the frequency range identified during the iterative test.
A method comprising:
- accessing a measurement of a parameter received from a frequency generator and measurement device, the measurement generated based on a plurality of radio frequency (RF) signals that are provided to a portion of a plasma tool, the RF signals having one or more ranges of frequencies;
- determining whether the parameter indicates an error, the error indicating a fault in the portion of the plasma tool;
- identifying limits of the frequencies in which the error occurs;
- and
- identifying based on the limits of the frequencies in which the error occurs one or more components of the portion of the plasma tool creating the error,
- wherein the method is executed by a processor.
A plasma system comprising:
- a plasma tool including:
- a plasma chamber, the plasma chamber including a number of components, the components including multiple electrodes, one of the electrodes for receiving a plurality of radio frequency (RF) signals, the RF signals having one or more ranges of frequencies;
- and
- a radio frequency (RF) transmission line connected to the plasma chamber for facilitating a transfer of the RF signals to the plasma chamber, wherein at least a portion of the RF transmission line is connected to a frequency generator and measurement device;
- and
- a host system connected to the frequency generator and measurement device, the host system for:
- receiving a measurement of a parameter from the frequency generator and measurement device, the measurement generated based on the RF signals;
- determining whether the parameter indicates an error in the plasma chamber or the RF transmission line;
- identifying limits of the frequencies in which the error occurs;
- and
- identifying based on the limits of the frequencies in which the error occurs one or more components of the plasma chamber or the RF transmission line creating the error.
A connector comprising:
- a housing having an open end, the open end facilitating entrance within a space of the housing;
- a port attached to the housing to form a closed end of the housing, the closed end oppositely located in comparison to the open end, the port having a pin for transferring an RF signal;
- a screw having a head and a threaded portion, the head having a space for receiving an end of the pin for fitting the pin inside the space of the head, the threaded portion for attaching to an RF rod, the pin for receiving a connector of a frequency generator and measurement device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.