Patent ID: 8906163

Claim:
A method of operating one or more back end circuits of a plasma processing system, wherein the plasma processing system comprises a front end module, a plurality of load locks, and a first plasma processing chamber, the method comprising: prior to the front end module receiving one or more wafers to be processed, receiving preliminary data at the one or more back end circuits, wherein the preliminary data indicates a recipe and a predetermined number, wherein the predetermined number indicates a number of wafers to be processed; determining whether the first plasma processing chamber is ready for processing; and if the first plasma processing chamber is ready for processing and via the one or more back end circuits, selecting a first load lock of the plurality of load locks, based on the predetermined number, instructing the front end module to pull the one or more wafers into the first load lock, enabling the first plasma processing chamber to process a first wafer of the one or more wafers according to the recipe, and subsequent to the processing of the first wafer, instructing the front end module to remove the first wafer from the first plasma processing chamber.