Method and apparatus for generating a variable clock used to control a component of a substrate processing system
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsKenneth S. Collins, Satoru Kobayashi, Kartik Ramaswamy
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for generating a variable clock used to control a component of a substrate processing system are provided herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus for controlling a substrate processing system includes: a phase locked loop circuit for generating a relative clock that is phase locked to a variable frequency signal being used by a substrate processing chamber; and a controller, coupled to the phase locked loop circuit, for producing a control signal for a component of the substrate processing system, wherein the control signal is based upon the relative clock and an operating indicia of the substrate processing system.
Claims10
A substrate processing system, comprising:
- a tunable frequency RF source for generating an RF signal with a variable frequency;
- a matching unit, coupled to the tunable frequency RF source, for matching an impedance of the tunable frequency RF source with an impedance of a substrate processing chamber;
- the substrate processing chamber, coupled to the matching unit, for processing a substrate using a plasma that is ignited and/or maintained by the RF signal;
- and
- a matching unit controller, coupled to the tunable frequency RF source, the matching unit and the substrate processing chamber, for generating a matching unit control signal that controls a reactor value for the matching unit, where the matching unit control signal is produced using substrate processing chamber operating indicia and a relative clock signal having a relative clock frequency, and where the relative clock signal is phase locked to the RF signal using a phase locked loop circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.