Schneider Electric’s arc detection solutions expanded to monitor RF generators.

After much success using our award winning plasma arc detection system to monitor DC power supplies and electrostatic chucks for wafer-and-tool-damaging arc events, Schneider Electric is pleased to announce that its patented arc detection solution is now capable of monitoring RF generators for the same yield detracting electrical anomalies. By monitoring the RF signal at an extremely high frequency, our arc detection system is able to sense even the shortest duration collapses in the RF waveform which are indicative of an electrical arc. This latest version of our arc detection system has been successfully deployed on both Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition and Reactive Ion Etch process tools and can also be fitted to other types of process tool where electrical monitoring is required.

With the expansion of our arc detection solution to RF monitoring, Schneider Electric can now provide our customers with a comprehensive picture of all the electrical sources which may be susceptible to arcing in the process chamber. The Arc Detection system measures rapid changes in the chamber's impedance which may signal the occurrence of a product-damaging arc. Sampling the chamber's power supplies at a frequency of over 30 MHz allows the arc detection system to reliably identify microsecond arcs which can occur in these plasma processing chambers. Using the data provided by the arc detection system, manufacturing engineers can significantly reduce their mean time to detection of faulty equipment operation and optimize their maintenance schedules to insure higher product quality from their manufacturing line.