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:
Oct. 26, 2010
Filed:
Nov. 09, 2007
Iqbal A. Shareef, Fremont, CA (US);
James V. Tietz, Fremont, CA (US);
Vernon Wong, Mountain View, CA (US);
Richard J. Meinecke, Fremont, CA (US);
Iqbal A. Shareef, Fremont, CA (US);
James V. Tietz, Fremont, CA (US);
Vernon Wong, Mountain View, CA (US);
Richard J. Meinecke, Fremont, CA (US);
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for determining an actual gas flow rate in a reaction chamber of a plasma processing system is provided. The method includes delivering gas by a gas flow delivery system controlled by a mass flow controller (MFC) to an orifice, which is located upstream from the reaction chamber. The method also includes pressurizing the gas to create a choked flow condition within the orifice. The method further includes measuring a set of upstream pressure values of the gas via a set of pressure sensors. The method yet also includes applying a calibration factor of a set of calibration factors to determine the actual flow rate. The calibration factor is a ratio of an average of the set of upstream pressure values to an average of a set of golden upstream pressure values, which is associated with an indicated flow rate for an MFC.