Method of monitoring a surface condition of a component

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11618946-B2
Application number	US-202117306200-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 3, 2021
Priority date	May 2, 2020
Publication date	Apr 4, 2023
Grant date	Apr 4, 2023

Abstract

A method includes providing thermal energy to a component, determining a thermal response of the component in response to providing the thermal energy, and determining a thermal characteristic of the component based on a reference thermal response and the thermal response. The method includes predicting a surface condition of the component based on the thermal characteristic and a predictive analytic model, where the predictive analytic model correlates the thermal characteristic of the component to an estimated surface condition of the component.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for monitoring a surface condition of a component, the method comprising:
providing, by a heater, thermal energy to the component;
determining, by a controller, a thermal response of the component in response to providing the thermal energy, wherein the controller comprises one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in a nontransitory computer-readable medium;
determining, by the controller, a thermal characteristic of the component based on a reference thermal response and the thermal response; and
predicting, by the controller, the surface condition of the component based on the thermal characteristic and a predictive analytic model, wherein the predictive analytic model correlates the thermal characteristics of the component to an estimated surface condition of the component, and wherein the predictive analytic model is generated by a machine learning routine that correlates one or more model parameters of a semiconductor processing system to changes in the thermal characteristic.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the thermal characteristic is based on a difference between the reference thermal response and the thermal response.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the thermal characteristic is an emissivity of the component, a thermal coupling among different zones of the component, a thermal gain of the component, an electric resistance-temperature correlation of the component, a gas convective coupling of the component, or a combination thereof.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein providing the thermal energy to the component further comprises increasing thermal energy provided to the component.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein providing the thermal energy to the component further comprises decreasing thermal energy provided to the component.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the surface condition indicates an amount of material buildup on a surface of the component.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the thermal response is a rate of dissipation of thermal energy by the component.

8. The method according to claim 1 further comprising varying at least one of an intensity and a duration of the thermal energy to create a thermal signature of the component, wherein the thermal signature is an image representation of the thermal response.

9. The method according to claim 8 further comprising determining the thermal characteristic of the component based on a reference thermal signature and the thermal signature.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the component is selected from a group consisting of a wall of a semiconductor processing chamber, a liner of the semiconductor processing chamber, a showerhead of the semiconductor processing chamber, a lid of the semiconductor processing chamber, a wall of a fluid heating conduit, a heater surface, and a sheath of the heater.

11. The method according to claim 1 further comprising measuring a temperature of the component during a predetermined period to determine the thermal response.

12. The method according to claim 11 further comprising determining a dissipation of energy by the component based on a change in the temperature of the component during the predetermined period.

13. The method according to claim 12 further comprising determining a change in emissivity of the component based on the change in the temperature of the component during the predetermined period.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the thermal response of the component is determined in response to a temperature of the component being equal to a predetermined temperature.

15. A monitoring system for monitoring a surface condition of a component, the monitoring system comprising:
a thermal control system comprising a heater, wherein the heater is configured to provide thermal energy to the component, and wherein the component is selected from a group consisting of a wall of a semiconductor processing chamber, a liner of the semiconductor processing chamber, a showerhead of the semiconductor processing chamber, a lid of the semiconductor processing chamber, a wall of a fluid heating conduit, a heater surface, and a sheath of the heater; and
a controller comprising one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in a nontransitory computer-readable medium, wherein the controller is configured to:
determine a thermal response of the component in response to providing the thermal energy, wherein the thermal response is a rate of dissipation of the thermal energy by the component;
determine a thermal characteristic of the component based on a difference between a reference thermal response and the thermal response, wherein the reference thermal response is a reference rate of dissipation of the thermal energy of the component in response to providing the thermal energy; and
predict an amount of material buildup on a surface of the component based on the thermal characteristic and a predictive analytic model, wherein the predictive analytic model correlates the thermal characteristics of the component to an estimated surface condition of the component, and wherein the predictive analytic model is generated by a machine learning routine that correlates one or more model parameters of a semiconductor processing system to changes in the thermal characteristic.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the thermal characteristic is an emissivity of the component, a thermal coupling among different zones of the component, a thermal gain of the component, an electric resistance-temperature correlation of the component, a gas convective coupling of the component, or a combination thereof.

17. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the predictive analytic model is generated during a training routine.

Assignees

• Watlow Electric Mfg

Inventors

• Lindley Jacob
• Schmidt Philip
• Pizzella Miranda
• Everly Mark D

Classifications

• G01K7/22

  the element being a non-linear resistance, e.g. thermistor (G01K7/26 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01K7/02

  using thermoelectric elements, e.g. thermocouples · CPC title

• G01K13/00

  Thermometers specially adapted for specific purposes · CPC title

• G01K7/16

  using resistive elements · CPC title

• G01J5/0003

  for sensing the radiant heat transfer of samples, e.g. emittance meter · CPC title