Adjustment of Power and Frequency Based on Three or More States
First Claim
1. A plasma processing system, comprising,a primary generator including three primary power controllers, each of the primary power controllers configured with a predefined power setting;
- a secondary generator including three secondary power controllers, each of the secondary power controllers configured with a predefined power setting; and
a control circuit interfaced as an input to each of the primary and secondary generators, the control circuit configured to generate a pulsed signal, the pulsed signal defined to include three states that define a cycle that repeats during operation for a plurality of cycles, each state defined to select a first, or a second, or a third of the three primary power controllers while also selecting a first, or a second, or a third of the three secondary power controllers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for adjusting power and frequency based on three or more states are described. One of the methods includes receiving a pulsed signal having multiple states. The pulsed signal is received by multiple radio frequency (RF) generators. When the pulsed signal having a first state is received, an RF signal having a pre-set power level is generated by a first RF generator and an RF signal having a pre-set power level is generated by a second RF generator. Moreover, when the pulsed signal having a second state is received, RF signals having pre-set power levels are generated by the first and second RF generators. Furthermore, when the pulsed signal having a third state is received, RF signals having pre-set power levels are generated by the first and second RF generators.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A plasma processing system, comprising,
a primary generator including three primary power controllers, each of the primary power controllers configured with a predefined power setting; -
a secondary generator including three secondary power controllers, each of the secondary power controllers configured with a predefined power setting; and a control circuit interfaced as an input to each of the primary and secondary generators, the control circuit configured to generate a pulsed signal, the pulsed signal defined to include three states that define a cycle that repeats during operation for a plurality of cycles, each state defined to select a first, or a second, or a third of the three primary power controllers while also selecting a first, or a second, or a third of the three secondary power controllers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A plasma system configured for operation using multiple states, the plasma system comprising:
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a primary radio frequency (RF) generator for receiving a pulsed signal, the pulsed signal having three or more states, the three or more states including a first state, a second state, and a third state, the primary RF generator for coupling to a plasma chamber via an impedance matching circuit, a secondary RF generator for receiving the pulsed signal, the secondary RF generator for coupling to the plasma chamber via the impedance matching circuit, each of the primary RF generator and the secondary RF generator is configured to determine whether the pulsed signal is in the first state, or the second state, or the third state, the primary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having a first primary quantitative level to the impedance matching circuit in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the first state, the secondary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having a first secondary quantitative level to the impedance matching circuit in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the first state, the primary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having the first primary quantitative level to the impedance matching circuit in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the second state, the secondary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having a second secondary quantitative level to the impedance matching circuit in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the second state, the primary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having a second primary quantitative level to the impedance matching circuit in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the third state, the secondary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having a third secondary quantitative level to the impedance matching circuit in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the third state. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A plasma system configured to operate based on multiple states, the plasma system comprising:
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a primary radio frequency (RF) generator for receiving a pulsed signal, the pulsed signal having three or more states, the three or more states including a first state, a second state, and a third state, the primary RF generator for coupling to a plasma chamber via an impedance matching circuit, the primary RF generator for determining whether the pulsed signal is in the first state, or the second state, or the third state, the primary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having a first primary quantitative level to a plasma chamber to strike plasma in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the first state, the primary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having the first primary quantitative level to the plasma chamber in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the second state, the primary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having a second primary quantitative level to the plasma chamber in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the third state, a secondary RF generator for coupling to the plasma chamber via the impedance matching circuit, the secondary RF generator for determining whether a parameter associated with the plasma exceeds a first threshold, the secondary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having a first secondary quantitative level in response to determining that the parameter associated with the plasma does not exceed the first threshold, the secondary RF generator is configured to provide an RF signal having a second secondary quantitative level in response to determining that the parameter associated with the plasma exceeds the first threshold. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A plasma method comprising:
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receiving a pulsed signal, wherein receiving the pulsed signal is performed by a processor, receiving the pulsed signal, wherein receiving the pulsed signal is performed by a secondary processor, determining whether the pulsed signal is in the first state, or the second state, or the third state, wherein determining is performed by the primary processor; determining whether the pulsed signal is in the first state, or the second state, or the third state, wherein determining is performed by the secondary processor; providing a first primary quantitative level of a first radio frequency (RF) signal to a primary power supply in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the first state, wherein providing the first primary quantitative level is performed by the primary processor; providing a first secondary quantitative level of a second RF signal to a secondary power supply in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the first state, wherein providing the first secondary quantitative level is performed by the secondary processor; providing the first primary quantitative level of the first RF signal to the primary power supply in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the second state, wherein providing the first primary quantitative level is performed by the primary processor; providing a second secondary quantitative level of the second RF signal to the secondary power supply in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the second state, wherein providing the second secondary quantitative level is performed by the secondary processor; providing a second primary quantitative level of the first RF signal to the primary power supply in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the third state, wherein providing the second primary quantitative level is performed by the primary processor; and providing a third secondary quantitative level of the second RF signal to the secondary power supply in response to determining that the pulsed signal is in the third state, wherein providing the third secondary quantitative level is performed by the secondary processor. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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Specification