The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 15, 2009
Filed:
Nov. 30, 2007
Sherk Chung, Emeryville, CA (US);
Mukund Chakravarthy Venkatesh, San Francisco, CA (US);
Paxton Ming Kai Chow, Walnut Creek, CA (US);
Jiuyi Cheng, Milpitas, CA (US);
Paul Tran, Sacramento, CA (US);
Joseph Raymond Monkowski, Danville, CA (US);
Sherk Chung, Emeryville, CA (US);
Mukund Chakravarthy Venkatesh, San Francisco, CA (US);
Paxton Ming Kai Chow, Walnut Creek, CA (US);
Jiuyi Cheng, Milpitas, CA (US);
Paul Tran, Sacramento, CA (US);
Joseph Raymond Monkowski, Danville, CA (US);
Pivotal Systems Corporation, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Abstract
Leaks in a processing chamber, including 'virtual leaks' resulting from outgassing of material present within the chamber, may be detected utilizing an optical emission spectroscopy (OES) sensor configured to monitor light emitted from plasma of a sample from the chamber. According to certain embodiments, gas introduced into the chamber by the leak may be detected directly on the basis of its optical spectrum. Alternatively, gas introduced by the leak may be detected indirectly, based upon an optical spectrum of a material resulting from reaction of the gas attributable to the leak. According to one embodiment, data from the OES sensor is received by a processor that is configured to compute a leak detection index. The value of the leak detection index is compared against a threshold to determine if a leak is detected. If the value of the index crosses the threshold, a notification of the existence of a leak is sent.