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US 7,024,950 B2Granted
Method for intelligent sampling of particulates in exhaust lines
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsRichard L. Guldi, J. Michael Grobelny
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An in-situ particle monitor in an exhaust controls a particle sampler so that when a predetermined particle threshold is detected, the particle sampler is caused to gather samples from the exhaust in real-time. Electrical control signals are monitored to correlate variations in the signals with particle excursions for both analysis and sample collection triggering.
Claims12
A fabrication method, comprising the steps of:
- monitoring the exhaust of a process chamber;
- and
- automatically sampling said exhaust when a particle excursion occurs.
A fabrication method, comprising the steps of:
- monitoring at least one signal of a process chamber;
- and
- sampling the exhaust from said process chamber when detecting a given particle flux by an in-situ particle monitor located in said exhaust.
A wafer processing system, comprising:
- a chamber with an exhaust;
- a particle monitor located in said exhaust;
- wherein said particle monitor is connected to cause a partide sampler to gather samples from said exhaust when a predetermined particle flux is detected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.