Patent ID: 7828929

Claim:
A device for processing a thin film on a substrate, said device comprising: a thin film deposition source for generating a flux of precursors in a flux region; a dual rotation planetary system including a central planet having a central rotational axis and a plurality of sub-planets, each sub-planet positioned on said central planet and having a sub-planet rotational axis; a substrate positioned on a first sub-planet at a first distance from a rotational axis of said first sub-planet, said substrate having a receiving surface for receiving said precursors; a sensor positioned on a second sub-planet at a second distance from a rotational axis of said second sub-planet, said sensor having a sensing surface for receiving said precursors, wherein said first distance and said second distance are the same; wherein rotation of said central planet and said first sub-planet provide a receiving surface trajectory in said flux region and rotation of said central planet and said second sub-planet provide a sensing surface trajectory in said flux region that is substantially coincident with said receiving surface trajectory, wherein said sensing surface trajectory and said receiving surface trajectory are substantially coincident when [ 〈 ( T P ⇀ ⁢ Sensing ⁡ ( t , t + Δ ⁢ ⁢ t ) - T P ⇀ ⁢ Receiving ⁡ ( t , t + Δ ⁢ ⁢ t ) T P ⇀ ⁢ Receiving ⁡ ( t , t + Δ ⁢ ⁢ t ) ) 2 〉 t ] 1 / 2 < A , wherein A is a tolerance in fractional accuracy of a layer thickness of precursors deposited on said receiving surface over a selected time scale, Δt, and T Psensing (t, t+Δt) and T Preceiving (t, t+Δt) are time dependent process source thickness factors for the sensing and receiving surfaces, respectively; and wherein said sensor is not positioned between said substrate and said thin film deposition source.