Capacitive sensors and capacitive sensing locations for plasma chamber condition monitoring

A plasma processing chamber, comprising:

• a chamber wall surrounding a processing region;
• a chamber lid over the chamber wall, the chamber lid above the processing region, wherein the chamber lid comprises a capacitive sensor module;
• a chamber floor beneath the chamber wall, the chamber floor below the processing region;
• and
• a support pedestal in the processing region, the support pedestal below the chamber lid and above the chamber floor, and the support pedestal surrounded by the chamber wall.

A plasma processing chamber, comprising:

• a chamber wall surrounding a processing region;
• a chamber lid over the chamber wall, the chamber lid above the processing region;
• a chamber floor beneath the chamber wall, the chamber floor below the processing region, wherein the chamber floor comprises an evacuation port;
• a capacitive sensor module within or adjacent to the evacuation port;
• and
• a support pedestal in the processing region, the support pedestal below the chamber lid and above the chamber floor, and the support pedestal surrounded by the chamber wall.

A plasma processing chamber, comprising:

• a chamber wall surrounding a processing region;
• a chamber lid over the chamber wall, the chamber lid above the processing region;
• a chamber floor beneath the chamber wall, the chamber floor below the processing region;
• a support pedestal in the processing region, the support pedestal below the chamber lid and above the chamber floor, and the support pedestal surrounded by the chamber wall, wherein the support pedestal comprises a ring structure surrounding a substrate support region, the ring structure comprising an opening there through;
• and
• a capacitive sensor module in the opening of the ring structure.