System and method for detecting non-cathode arcing in a plasma generation apparatus

1. A method for detecting a risk of non-cathode arcing in a physical vapor deposition chamber utilized for depositing metal on a substrate, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a set of cathode arcing event data for each of a plurality of substrates processed in the physical vapor deposition chamber;

computing, by a computer, a parameter for each of the plurality of substrates based on the set of cathode arcing event data for each substrate;

determining, by the computer, a moving average of the parameter; and

determining the risk of non-cathode arcing based on the determined moving average of the parameter.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

providing an indication that there is no risk of non-cathode arcing based on the outcome of the determining step.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprises the step of:

providing an indication that there is a risk of non-cathode arcing based on the outcome of the determining step.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating a set of cathode arcing event data for each of a plurality of substrates processed in the physical vapor deposition chamber step comprises:

obtaining a value for a plurality of cathode arcing variable types;

calculating a variable type mean for each variable type of each set of cathode arcing event data for each of the plurality of substrates;

calculating a variable type standard deviation for each variable type of each set of cathode arcing event data for each of the plurality of substrates; and,

utilizing the variable type mean and the variable type standard deviation to create a normalized set of data for each set of cathode arcing event data for each of the plurality of substrates.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the computing a parameter for each of the plurality of substrates based on the set of cathode arcing event data step comprises:

computing the parameter for each substrate based on the normalized set of data.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the computing the parameter for each substrate based on the normalized set of data step comprises:

weighing the variable types of the normalized set of data.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the risk of non-cathode arcing based on the parameter step comprises:

performing a pattern recognition technique on the moving average of the parameter.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the performing a pattern recognition technique on the moving average of the parameter step comprises:

monitoring the moving average for an increase in the baseline value of the moving average.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the substrates is a silicon wafer.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the substrates is a glass panel.

11. A method for determining a risk of potential non-cathode arcing in a physical deposition chamber comprising the steps of:

generating, by a cathode arc detection unit, cathode arcing event data for each of a plurality of substrates processed in a physical vapor deposition chamber, the cathode arcing event data comprising a plurality of variable types;

determining, by a computer, for each of the variable types, a mean value and a standard deviation; and

determining, based on the mean values and the standard deviations, the potential risk of non-cathode arcing in the chamber based on the generated cathode arcing event data.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the generating cathode arcing event data for each of a plurality of substrates processed in the chamber step comprises:

monitoring a primary supply voltage and a primary supply current of the physical vapor deposition, and a secondary supply voltage and a secondary supply current of the physical vapor deposition chamber.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of:

providing an indication of one of a risk of non-cathode arcing and no risk of non-cathode arcing based on an outcome of the determining of the risk of non-cathode arcing.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of:

creating a statistical parameter from the means values and the standard deviations;

computing a moving average of the statistical parameter; and,

performing a pattern recognition technique on the moving average.

15. A system for detecting a risk of non-cathode arcing in a physical vapor deposition chamber for processing substrates comprising:

a cathode arcing detection unit communicatively coupled to monitor a primary supply voltage of a physical vapor deposition chamber;

a processor coupled to the cathode arcing detection unit configured to:

generate cathode arcing data comprising, for each of a plurality of substrates processed in the chamber, a plurality of variable types,

compute a mean value and a standard deviation for each of the variable types, and

determine the risk of non-cathode arcing in the chamber based on the generated cathode arcing data.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the cathode arcing detection unit is further communicatively coupled to monitor a primary supply current, a secondary supply voltage and a secondary supply current of the physical vapor deposition chamber.

17. The system of claim 16 further comprising a first sensor for monitoring the primary supply voltage, a second sensor for monitoring the primary supply current, a third sensor for monitoring the secondary supply voltage, and a fourth sensor for monitoring the secondary supply current.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the processor is configured to generate a plurality of variable types from signals received from each of the first, second, third, and fourth sensors.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the processor is configured to compute a normalized set of data utilizing the mean value and standard deviation value, and to determine the risk of non-cathode arcing based on the normalized set of data.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the processor is configured to compute a parameter from the normalized set of data for each substrate, to compute a moving average of the parameter, and to determine the risk of non-cathode arcing based on the moving average of the parameter.

21. The system of claim 15 further comprising a visible indicator, wherein the processor is configured to provide an indication of the risk of non-cathode arcing by causing the visible indicator to visibly indicate the indication.

22. The system of claim 15 wherein at least one of the substrates is a silicon wafer.

23. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing data in a non-transitory computer-readable medium representing the determined risk of non-cathode arcing.