System for acquiring and analyzing a two-dimensional array of data
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorShaoher X Pan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for acquiring and displaying which represents a two-dimensional array of data in an intuitive graphical display, where the graphical display is controlled through a plurality of display interfaces. Specifically, the system acquires data representing a phenomenon such as a plasma, processes that data and displays the data, in real-time, in one of a number of user selectable graphical formats. The data, once acquired, can be further processed by editing, filtering and smoothing. Such processed data can then be "replayed" such that a user can compare various sets of data acquired under various test scenarios. Additionally, the system is used to control and optimize a plasma within plasma generating equipment.
Claims33
A system for acquiring a two-dimensional array of data, analyzing said data and displaying said data in a graphical display comprising
- a sensor having an array of probes, where each probe measures a particular value of a two-dimensional characteristic at a particular location relative to a plasma and produces a sensor signal;
- a data processor, coupled to said sensor, for processing the sensor signal;
- and
- a display, connected to said data processor, for displaying said sensor signal as a graphical depiction of the plasma based upon the measured particular characteristic.
A method for acquiring a two-dimensional array of data, analyzing said data and displaying said data in a graphical display comprising the steps of:
- producing a two-dimensional data set by measuring a particular characteristic of a plasma;
- processing the two-dimensional data sets
- selecting from a menu of graphical formats containing at least one format selected from the followings a three-dimensional surface graph, a two-dimensional intensity graph, a three-dimensional bar graph, a scaled three-dimensional surface graph, and a cross section of said three-dimensional surface graph;
- and
- displaying said data set as a graphical depiction of the plasma in a selected graphical format based upon the measured particular characteristic.
In a general purpose computer programmed for performing two-dimensional data acquisition and display, a method for acquiring a two-dimensional array of data, analyzing said data and displaying said data in a graphical display comprising the steps of:
- producing a two-dimensional data set by measuring, in real-time, a particular characteristic of a plasma;
- processing the two-dimensional data set by selecting a processing function from an interface display containing the following list of processing functions:
- running an experiment, editing data, and analyzing previously acquired data;
- displaying, in a graph display region on said interface display, said data set as a graphical depiction of the plasma based upon the measured particular characteristic, where said graphical depiction is formatted in a graphical format selected from a graphical menu containing the following graphical formats:
- a two-dimensional intensity graph, a three-dimensional bar graph, a three-dimensional surface graph, a scaled three-dimensional surface graph, a cross-section of a three-dimensional surface graph;
- displaying, in a control button region on said interface display, a plurality of control buttons;
- and
- displaying, in a statistical region, a plurality of statistics regarding a selected graphical display.
In a system for displaying a two-dimensional array of data, an interface display comprising:
- a test configuration display region for displaying information regarding an experiment used to acquire the two-dimensional array of data;
- a graph display region for displaying a graphical depiction of the two-dimensional array of data in a selected graphical format, wherein said selected graphical format is selected using a menu in said control button region, where said menu contains at least one of the following graphical formats:
- an intensity graph, a three-dimensional bar graph, a three-dimensional surface graph, a scaled three-dimensional surface graph, and a cross-section of a three-dimensional surface graph;
- a control button region for displaying a plurality of control buttons used to control the graphical format and the two-dimensional array of data;
- and
- a statistics display region for displaying statistical information regarding the two-dimensional array of data.
In a system for generating a plasma within a reaction chambers apparatus for monitoring and controlling said plasma comprising:
- a sensor having an array of probes, where each probe measures a particular value of a two-dimensional characteristic at a particular location relative to said plasma and produces information regarding said plasma and reaction chamber environmental conditions;
- a data processor, coupled to said sensor, for processing said information and for utilizing plasma control commands that are produced in response to said information to generate plasma control signals;
- and
- a chamber control unit, connected to said data processor and said reaction chamber, for controlling said reaction chamber environmental conditions in response to said plasma control signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.