Patent ID: 11915953
Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC H  F  G | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A thermal processing chamber apparatus, comprising:
a chamber body comprising a sidewall and a processing volume;
a rotor disposed in the processing volume of the chamber body;
an edge ring supported on the rotor, the edge ring comprising a radial inner surface and a radial outer surface, the radial outer surface facing the sidewall;
a plurality of heat lamps positioned above the edge ring and above the rotor; and
a controller including a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the thermal processing chamber apparatus to:
heat a first substrate disposed on the edge ring to a first temperature using the plurality of heat lamps;
cool the first substrate to a second temperature that is lesser than the first temperature;
cause a first distance sensor mounted to an exterior of a sidewall of the chamber body to:
emit a first signal through a window of the sidewall towards the radial outer surface of the edge ring such that the signal reflects off the radial outer surface of the edge ring to become a first reflected signal; and
receive, through the window, the first reflected signal;

cause a second distance sensor to:
emit a second signal towards the radial outer surface of the edge ring such that the second signal reflects off the radial outer surface to become a second reflected signal; and
receive the second reflected signal;

measure a first distance between the first distance sensor and the radial outer surface of the edge ring using the first reflected signal;
measure a second distance between the second distance sensor and the radial outer surface of the edge ring using the second reflected signal;
perform repeat measurements of the first and second distances while rotating the edge ring;
determine a center position shift of the edge ring using by analyzing phase differences between the first and second distances:
determine a corrected landing position using the center position shift; and
instruct a robot to align a second substrate with the corrected landing position.