US 12,351,907 B2
Method of monitoring a surface condition of a component
Jacob Lindley, St. Louis, MO (US); Philip Schmidt, Decorah, IA (US); Miranda Pizzella, St. Louis, MO (US); and Mark D. Everly, St. Charles, MO (US)
Assigned to WATLOW ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, St. Louis, MO (US)
Filed by WATLOW ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, St. Louis, MO (US)
Filed on Mar. 2, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/116,581.
Application 18/116,581 is a continuation of application No. 17/306,200, filed on May 3, 2021, granted, now 11,618,946.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/019,267, filed on May 2, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0203648 A1, Jun. 29, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G01N 25/20 (2006.01); C23C 16/44 (2006.01); G06Q 10/04 (2023.01); G06Q 50/04 (2012.01)
CPC C23C 16/4401 (2013.01) [G01N 25/20 (2013.01); G06Q 10/04 (2013.01); G06Q 50/04 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for monitoring a surface condition of a component, the method comprising:
providing, by a heater, thermal energy to the component, wherein the component is used in a semiconductor processing system that manufactures semiconductors;
varying, by a controller, at least one of an intensity and a duration of the thermal energy to create a thermal signature of the component, wherein the controller comprises one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in a nontransitory computer-readable medium;
determining, by a controller in communication with the heater, a thermal response of the heater in response to providing the thermal energy, wherein the thermal response includes a parameter of the heater, wherein the thermal signature is an image representation of the thermal response;
determining, by the controller, a thermal characteristic of the component based on a reference thermal response and the thermal response; and
predicting, by the controller, the surface condition of the component based on the thermal characteristic and a predictive analytic model, wherein the predictive analytic model correlates the thermal characteristics of the component to an estimated surface condition of the component.