SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING FAULTS, ANOMALIES, AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF A SWITCHED MODE ION ENERGY DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring of a plasma processing chamber, the system comprising:
- a plasma processing chamber configured to contain a plasma;
a substrate support positioned within the plasma processing chamber and disposed to support a substrate,an ion-energy control portion, the ion-energy control portion provides at least one ion-energy control signal responsive to at least one ion-energy distribution setting that is indicative of a desired ion energy distribution at the surface of the substrate;
a switch-mode power supply coupled to the substrate support and the ion-energy control portion, the switch-mode power supply including one or more switching components configured to apply power to the substrate as a periodic voltage function;
an ion current compensation component coupled to the substrate support, the ion current compensation component adding an ion compensation current to the periodic voltage function to form a modified periodic voltage function; and
a controller coupled to the substrate support, the controller determining an ion current in the plasma processing chamber from the ion compensation current and comparing the ion current to a reference current waveform.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems, methods and apparatus for regulating ion energies in a plasma chamber and chucking a substrate to a substrate support are disclosed. An exemplary method includes placing a substrate in a plasma chamber, forming a plasma in the plasma chamber, controllably switching power to the substrate so as to apply a periodic voltage function (or a modified periodic voltage function) to the substrate, and modulating, over multiple cycles of the periodic voltage function, the periodic voltage function responsive to a defined distribution of energies of ions at the surface of the substrate so as to effectuate the defined distribution of ion energies on a time-averaged basis.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring of a plasma processing chamber, the system comprising:
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a plasma processing chamber configured to contain a plasma; a substrate support positioned within the plasma processing chamber and disposed to support a substrate, an ion-energy control portion, the ion-energy control portion provides at least one ion-energy control signal responsive to at least one ion-energy distribution setting that is indicative of a desired ion energy distribution at the surface of the substrate; a switch-mode power supply coupled to the substrate support and the ion-energy control portion, the switch-mode power supply including one or more switching components configured to apply power to the substrate as a periodic voltage function; an ion current compensation component coupled to the substrate support, the ion current compensation component adding an ion compensation current to the periodic voltage function to form a modified periodic voltage function; and a controller coupled to the substrate support, the controller determining an ion current in the plasma processing chamber from the ion compensation current and comparing the ion current to a reference current waveform. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for monitoring a plasma processing chamber and associated systems, the system comprising:
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an electrical node configured for coupling to a substrate support of the plasma processing chamber and for providing a modified periodic voltage function to the substrate support, wherein the modified periodic voltage function comprises a periodic voltage function modified by an ion compensation current; a switch mode power supply configured to provide the periodic voltage function to the electrical node; an ion current compensation component configured to provide the ion compensation current to the electrical node; a controller configured to sample voltage at the electrical node at two or more times and ascertain an ion current in the plasma processing chamber based on the voltage sampled at the electrical node. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for monitoring a plasma processing chamber and associated systems, the method comprising:
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providing a modified periodic voltage function to a substrate support of the plasma processing chamber; sampling at least a portion of the modified periodic voltage function to generate voltage data; comparing the voltage data to at least a portion of a reference waveform; and based on the comparing, identifying at least one difference between the voltage data and the at least a portion of the reference waveform to characterize operation of the plasma processing chamber and associated systems. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification