Apparatus and method for controlling high throughput sputtering
First Claim
1. A control system for a film deposition apparatus having a plurality of processing chambers, comprising:
- a plurality of control processors, each of the plurality of processors including a memory, being coupled to a subset of the plurality of chambers, and controlling processing in said subset of the plurality of chambers; and
a data structure provided in said memory including configuration data for each of said plurality of processing chambers;
wherein said apparatus includes deposition processing hardware to deposit films on a plurality of substrates passing through said plurality of processing chambers, said processing hardware being arranged into subsystems, said subsystems including a pumping system, a heating system, a transport system, and a sputtering gas control system; and
wherein each of said plurality of processors controls a portion of said subsystems as the plurality of substrates are processed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control system for a film deposition apparatus having a plurality of processing chambers. The control system includes a plurality of control processors, each of the plurality of processors including a memory, being coupled to a subset of the plurality of chambers and controlling processing in said subset of the plurality of chambers. Each processor includes a data structure, provided in said memory, having configuration data for said plurality of processing chambers, and control routines for controlling processing in the apparatus. In a second aspect, the system includes a facility for determining the position of the substrate in the system. The transport system of the deposition apparatus includes hardware position sensors which indicate the presence or absence of a substrate at said sensor. The facility determines the position of substrates when the output of one or more of the hardware sensors is unavailable. The facility determines substrate position based on the output of one or more other sensors which provide a known position of the substrate, encoder data, and the rate of movement of the substrate at each transport stage of the system.
85 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A control system for a film deposition apparatus having a plurality of processing chambers, comprising:
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a plurality of control processors, each of the plurality of processors including a memory, being coupled to a subset of the plurality of chambers, and controlling processing in said subset of the plurality of chambers; and a data structure provided in said memory including configuration data for each of said plurality of processing chambers; wherein said apparatus includes deposition processing hardware to deposit films on a plurality of substrates passing through said plurality of processing chambers, said processing hardware being arranged into subsystems, said subsystems including a pumping system, a heating system, a transport system, and a sputtering gas control system; and wherein each of said plurality of processors controls a portion of said subsystems as the plurality of substrates are processed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A control system for a film deposition apparatus having a plurality of processing chambers, comprising:
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a network hub; a plurality of control processors, communicating via the hub, each of said plurality of processors including non-volatile memory and being coupled to a subset of the plurality of chambers and controlling processing in said subset of the plurality of chambers; and a data structure provided in said non-volatile memory including configuration data for each of said plurality of processing chambers. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A control system for a film deposition apparatus, the apparatus processing including a plurality of substrates which are transported through the apparatus via a transport system, the transport system including a plurality of transport stages, each said stage having at least one sensor providing an output, the system including:
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means for reading the output of each sensor to determine whether a substrate is positioned at the location of the sensor; and means for determining the position of the substrate at a given sensor when the output of said given sensor is unavailable, said means determining said position based on the output of at least one functioning sensor providing an actual known position of the substrate and the rate of movement of the substrate at each transport stage of the system; wherein each transport stage includes three sensors per processing chamber, and the means for determining the positioning of the substrate provides an output to the processors to enable other control routines operating in the system to function. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for controlling an in-line sputtering machine having an input end, an output end, a plurality of processing chambers between the input end and the output end, a pumping system, a heating system, a transport system, and a sputtering gas control system, the transport system including a plurality of position sensors, each said system cooperating to process a plurality of substrates as the substrates pass from the input end to the output end, comprising:
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a network, including a network hub; and a plurality of processors including non-volatile storage means for storing configuration data for said apparatus, coupled to the hub and network, each of said plurality of processors being coupled to a subset of the plurality of chambers and controlling a portion of each of said pumping, heating, transport and sputtering gas systems of the sputtering machine relative to said subset of chambers, such that each said processor controls processing in a subset of said chambers of the sputtering apparatus, at least one of said processors including means for reading the output of said sensors to determine whether a substrate is positioned at the sensor; and means for determining the position of the substrate at a given sensor when the output of one of said sensors is unavailable, said means determining said position based on the output of at least one functioning sensor providing an actual known position of the substrate and the rate of movement of the substrate at each transport stage of the system, and for outputting a signal. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification