Patent ID: 8164353

Claim:
A method for characterizing a deposited film on a substrate within a processing chamber of a plasma processing system during substrate processing, comprising: determining a voltage-current characteristic for a probe head, wherein a measuring capacitor is set at a first capacitance value; applying a radio frequency (RF) train to said probe head, thereby causing said measuring capacitor to be charged, wherein said measuring capacitor is set at a second capacitance value, said second capacitance value being greater than said first capacitance value; providing an initial resistance value for said deposited film and an initial capacitance value for said deposited film; employing said initial resistance value, said initial capacitance value, and said voltage-current characteristic to generate a first simulated voltage-time curve; determining a first measured voltage-time curve, said first measured voltage-time curve representing a potential drop across said deposited film for one RF train; and comparing said first simulated voltage-time curve to said first measured voltage-time curve, wherein if a difference between said first simulated voltage-time curve and said first measured voltage-time curve is less than a predefined threshold, employing said initial resistance value and said initial capacitance for characterizing said deposited film.