Consolidated filter arrangement for devices in an RF environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10820378-B2
Application number	US-201815870488-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 12, 2018
Priority date	Nov 26, 2014
Publication date	Oct 27, 2020
Grant date	Oct 27, 2020

Abstract

A method includes generating, based on a process recipe, a first electrical control signal by a processing device external to a particular radio frequency (RF) environment. The method further includes converting the first electrical control signal into an alternative control signal, transmitting the alternative control signal to a converter within the particular RF environment over a non-conductive communication link, and converting the alternative control signal into a second electrical control signal by the converter. The method further includes controlling a first plurality of elements via one or more switching devices using the second electrical control signal. The method further includes generating, based on the process recipe, a third signal by the processing device and controlling a second plurality of elements disposed outside of the RF environment using the third signal. The first plurality of elements and the second plurality of elements are controlled substantially simultaneously based on the process recipe.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving a process recipe via user input;
generating, based on the process recipe, a first electrical control signal by a processing device that is external to a radio frequency (RF) environment;
converting the first electrical control signal into an alternative control signal that can be transmitted over a non-conductive communication link;
transmitting the alternative control signal to a converter within the RF environment within a processing chamber of a substrate processing system over the non-conductive communication link;
converting the alternative control signal into a second electrical control signal by the converter inside the RF environment within the processing chamber;
controlling a first plurality of elements disposed within the RF environment within the processing chamber via one or more switching devices disposed within the RF environment within the processing chamber using the second electrical control signal to modulate a power output by the one or more switching devices;
generating, based on the process recipe, a third signal by the processing device; and
controlling a second plurality of elements of the substrate processing system via one or more additional devices of the substrate processing system using the third signal, wherein the one or more additional devices and the second plurality of elements are disposed outside of the processing chamber and are disposed outside of the RF environment, and wherein the first plurality of elements and the second plurality of elements are controlled substantially simultaneously based on the process recipe.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first electrical control signal is a real-time switching control signal that causes the one or more switching devices to switch on and off.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing the modulated power output to one or more heating elements of the first plurality of elements to control a heat of at least one heating zone associated with the one or more heating elements.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
using a single filter disposed between the one or more switching devices and a power source to filter RF noise introduced to a power line coupled to the one or more switching devices and the power line.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first electrical control signal is an electrical switching signal.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alternative control signal is an optical switching signal.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alternative control signal is an RF control signal.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alternative control signal is an inductive control signal.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlling of the first plurality of elements is by controlling a duty cycle of the one or more switching devices.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing, based on the process recipe, commands to one or more pulse width modulation (PWM) circuits in the RF environment over a second non-conductive communication link.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising controlling a duty cycle for a third plurality of elements by the one or more PWM circuits based on the commands.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second plurality of elements disposed outside of the RF environment are digital devices.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the digital devices have switchable digital outputs to enable or disable power to other devices or other elements.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second plurality of elements disposed outside of the RF environment are analog devices.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the analog devices have switchable analog input to regulate a power supply.

16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving, over at least one of the non-conductive communication link or the second non-conductive communication link, measurements from sensors in the RF environment.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising causing one or more actions to be performed based on the measurements.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising providing a user interface, wherein the receiving of the process recipe via the user input is via the user interface.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising displaying, via the user interface, settings of the first plurality of elements and the second plurality of elements.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising displaying, via the user interface, sensor readings from inside the RF environment and outside of the RF environment.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Criminale Phillip
• Babayan Steve E
• Edmonson Scott
• Sommer Phillip R
• Marohl Dan A
• Blank Chris

Classifications

• H02J2105/42

  Home appliances · CPC title

• H02J13/1335

  involving a local wireless network, e.g. Wi-Fi®, ZigBee® or Bluetooth® · CPC title

• H02J13/1331

  using wireless data transmission · CPC title

• H02J13/14

  the power network being locally controlled, e.g. home energy management systems [HEMS] · CPC title

• H02J13/1323 Primary

  using optical fibres · CPC title