On-tool mass flow controller diagnostic systems and methods

1. A mass flow controller comprising:

a main flow path for a fluid;

a control component and a control valve, wherein the control component and the control valve are configured to collectively control a flow rate of the fluid;

a sensing element circuit coupled to the control component, the sensing element circuit including a bridge circuit including a first, second, third, and fourth nodes, a first resistive component being connected between the first and second nodes, a second resistive component being connected between the second and third nodes, a first sensing element being connected between the first and fourth nodes, and a second sensing element being connected between the fourth and third nodes;

a differential voltage processing component portion to provide a first output that is indicative of a differential voltage between the second and fourth nodes;

a top voltage processing component to provide a second output indicative of a top voltage between the first node and the third node;

top-and-differential voltage reference data stored in non-volatile memory that defines a characteristic curve by relating each of a plurality of top voltage reference values to a corresponding one of a plurality of differential voltage reference values; and

a sensor analysis component configured to:

obtain a top and differential voltage pair during operation; and

assess whether the top and differential voltage pair deviate from the characteristic curve to determine whether the sensing element circuit has changed since the top-and-differential voltage reference data was stored in the non-volatile memory.

2. The mass flow controller of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic curve relates each of a plurality of top voltage reference values to a corresponding one of a plurality of differential voltage reference values for a calibration gas, and wherein the sensor analysis component is configured to:

obtain a plurality of top-and-differential voltage pairs during operation for a process gas;

scale the plurality of top-and-differential voltage pairs by a saturation factor to obtain a scaled curve; and

assess whether the scaled curve deviates from the characteristic curve for the calibration gas to determine whether the sensing element circuit has changed since the top-and-differential voltage reference data was stored in non-volatile memory.

3. The mass flow controller of claim 2 , wherein the top-and-differential voltage reference data defines a plurality of characteristic curves for each of a plurality of gases, and wherein each of the plurality of characteristic curves relates each of a plurality of top voltage reference values to a corresponding one of a plurality of differential voltage reference values.

4. A mass flow controller comprising:

a main flow path for a fluid;

a control component and a control valve, wherein the control component and the control valve are configured to collectively control a flow rate of the fluid;

a sensing element circuit coupled to the control component, the sensing element circuit including a bridge circuit including a first, second, third, and fourth nodes, a first resistive component being connected between the first and second nodes, a second resistive component being connected between the second and third nodes, a first sensing element being connected between the first and fourth nodes, and a second sensing element being connected between the fourth and third nodes;

a differential voltage processing component to provide a first output that is indicative of a differential voltage between the second and fourth nodes;

a top voltage processing component to provide a second output indicative of a top voltage between the first node and the third node;

top-and-differential voltage reference data stored in non-volatile memory that defines a characteristic curve by relating each of a plurality of top voltage reference values to a corresponding one of a plurality of differential voltage reference values for a calibration gas;

a sensor analysis component configured to:

obtain, during substantially no flow through the mass flow controller, the top voltage T(0) from the top voltage processing component;

obtain a measured differential voltage D(f) and a measured top voltage T(f) from the differential voltage processing component and the top voltage processing component, respectively, for a process gas at a non-zero flow rate;

obtain an operational ratio, R, wherein R=(T(f)−T(0))/D(f);

identifying, in the top-and-differential voltage reference data, a flow value, fcal, that has a same calibration ratio, Rcal, as the operational ratio, wherein R cal =(Tcal(fcal)−Tcal(0))/Dcal(fcal);

calculating a present saturation factor, SF, where SF=Amplitude/sqrt[(T(f)−T(0)) 2 +D(f) 2 ], wherein Amplitude is equal to sqrt[(Tcal(fcal)−Tcal(0)) 2 +Dcal(fcal) 2 ]; and

comparing the present saturation factor, SF, with a reference saturation factor (RSF) to determine whether the differential voltage and top voltage is a valid voltage combination for the process gas.

5. A mass flow controller comprising:

a main flow path for a fluid;

a control component and a control valve, wherein the control component and the control valve are configured to collectively control a flow rate of the fluid;

a sensing element circuit coupled to the control component, the sensing element circuit including a bridge circuit including a first, second, third, and fourth nodes, a first resistive component being connected between the first and second nodes, a second resistive component being connected between the second and third nodes, a first sensing element being connected between the first and fourth nodes, and a second sensing element being connected between the fourth and third nodes;

a differential voltage processing component to provide a first output that is indicative of a differential voltage between the second and fourth nodes;

a top voltage processing component to provide a second output indicative of a top voltage between the first node and the third node;

top-and-differential voltage reference data stored in non-volatile memory that defines a characteristic curve by relating each of a plurality of top voltage reference values to a corresponding one of a plurality of differential voltage reference values; and

sensor analysis means including:

means for obtaining a top and differential voltage pair during operation; and

means for assessing whether the top and differential voltage pair deviate from the characteristic curve to determine whether the sensing element circuit has changed since the top-and-differential voltage reference data was stored in the non-volatile memory.

6. The mass flow controller of claim 5 , wherein the characteristic curve relates each of a plurality of top voltage reference values to a corresponding one of a plurality of differential voltage reference values for a calibration gas, and wherein the sensor analysis means includes:

means for obtaining a plurality of top-and-differential voltage pairs during operation for a process gas;

means for scaling the plurality of top-and-differential voltage pairs by a saturation factor to obtain a scaled curve; and

means for assessing whether the scaled curve deviates from the characteristic curve for the calibration gas to determine whether the sensing element circuit has changed since the top-and-differential voltage reference data was stored in non-volatile memory.

7. The mass flow controller of claim 6 , wherein the top-and-differential voltage reference data defines a plurality of characteristic curves for each of a plurality of gases, and wherein each of the plurality of characteristic curves relates each of a plurality of top voltage reference values to a corresponding one of a plurality of differential voltage reference values.