Patent ID: 8530242

Claim:
A wafer process chamber leak detector, comprising: a wafer process chamber; a gas supply line coupling a gas supply to the wafer process chamber, the gas supply line comprising a final valve located on the gas supply line between the gas supply and the wafer process chamber; an indicator member coupled to the gas supply line between the final valve and the wafer process chamber; a reflecting member located adjacent the indicator member; a signal amplifier operable to direct an initial light through the indicator member, receive a reflected light that results from the initial light reflecting off the reflecting member, compare the reflected light to the initial light, and produce an amplified signal related to a difference between the reflected light and the initial light; and a gas supply cut-off device coupled to the signal amplifier and operable to automatically prevent gas from being supplied to the wafer process chamber through the gas supply line in response to receiving the amplified signal from the signal amplifier.