An apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing includes a platen having a surface to support a polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad, a pad conditioner to hold a conditioning disk against the polishing surface, an in-situ polishing pad thickness monitoring system, and a controller. The controller is configured to store data associating each of a plurality of conditioner disk products with a respective threshold value, receive an input selecting a conditioner disk product from the plurality of conditioner disk products, determine a particular threshold value associated with the selected conditioner disk product, receive a signal from the monitoring system, generate a measure of a pad cut rate from the signal, and generate an alert if the pad cut rate falls beyond the particular threshold value.

A fastening system for fastening an electronic device (2) in a measurement housing (1), comprising: an electronic-device holder (10) designed to accommodate an electronic measurement device (2); and a prestressing ring (20) that is able to cooperate with said holder (10) for assembly and comprises a plurality of prestressing beams (22, 25) designed to bear on said electronic device (2) when said ring is assembled together with the holder, said electronic device (2) being inserted into said holder (10).

There is provided a detection signal processing circuit and a detection signal processing method for an eddy current sensor that are less easily influenced by a change in ambient environment than conventional technologies. A detection signal processing apparatus includes a converter configured to convert a first analog signal output by a detection coil into a first digital signal, a converter configured to convert a second analog signal output by a dummy coil into a second digital signal, and a detector which is a digital signal processing circuit configured to detect the first digital signal and the second digital signal.

An accurate and stable displacement sensor that reads through coated metal substrates achieves better than one micron accuracy includes: an electromagnetic coil positioned in a first enclosure; (ii) means for generating a magnetic field from the electromagnetic coil; (iii) a second enclosure which is spaced apart from the first enclosure, wherein the second enclosure includes dual magnetic sensors, such as fluxgate sensors, that are configured to measure the magnetic field; and (iv) means for calculating the separation between the operative surfaces of the enclosures from magnetic field measurements. A permanent magnet can be used instead of the electromagnetic coil and associated driving energy source. A precise displacement measurement is given by a mathematical function (such as the ratio or difference) of the two magnetic sensors demodulated signals. The displacement sensor can be mounted on a maneuverable C-frame to monitor the caliper of anodes and cathodes produced for lithium ion batteries.

Various embodiments provide a thickness sensor and method for measuring a thickness of discrete conductive features, such as conductive lines and plugs. In one embodiment, the thickness sensor generates an Eddy current in a plurality of discrete conductive features, and measures the generated Eddy current generated in the discrete conductive features. The thickness sensor has a small sensor spot size, and amplifies peaks and valleys of the measured Eddy current. The thickness sensor determines a thickness of the discrete conductive features based on a difference between a minimum amplitude value and a maximum amplitude value of the measured Eddy current.

An apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing includes a platen having a surface to support a polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad, a pad conditioner to hold a conditioning disk against the polishing surface, an in-situ polishing pad thickness monitoring system, and a controller. The controller is configured to store data associating each of a plurality of conditioner disk products with a respective threshold value, receive an input selecting a conditioner disk product from the plurality of conditioner disk products, determine a particular threshold value associated with the selected conditioner disk product, receive a signal from the monitoring system, generate a measure of a pad cut rate from the signal, and generate an alert if the pad cut rate falls beyond the particular threshold value.

A method for in-situ measurement of a thickness of a coating deposited by a deposition process, includes the steps of initiating deposition within a deposition chamber such that a first coating forms on an outer surface of a probe disposed in the deposition chamber, wherein the probe comprises a coil assembly including at least one coil, wherein the probe is separated by a distance from a substrate disposed within the deposition chamber; exciting the coil assembly with a first alternating current to produce a first time-varying magnetic field, the first time-varying magnetic field generating an eddy current in the first coating; determining a metric related to an inductance or resistance of the coil assembly, wherein a value of the metric is related to a first thickness of the first coating and results at least partially from an eddy current magnetic field produced by an eddy current in the coating; and correlating the first thickness of the first coating to a second thickness of a second coating deposited on a surface of the substrate.

A method of recognizing consecutive objects on a conveying path in a detection zone arranged on the conveying path comprises the following steps: generating an electromagnetic radio frequency field radiating into the detection zone by way of a radio frequency sensor; measuring a time curve of a dielectric conductivity in the detection zone by using of the radio frequency field of the radio frequency sensor; and determining contour information of the consecutive objects from the time curve of the dielectric conductivity.

A belt management system of the present invention is formed by a management server (1) that manages belts that are used in a belt conveyor, a terminal (2) that is provided in a location where the belt conveyor is installed, and a data server (3) that is provided in a company that manufactures and sells belts, wherein the management server is provided with: a transceiver unit (10) that receives in time series belt remaining thickness data that shows the thickness of the belt and that is supplied from the terminal at each one of predetermined periods; and a belt lifespan prediction unit (11) that, by writing the belt remaining thickness data in the management database in time series, and reading from the management database the belt remaining thickness data that has been stored in time series, and dividing the difference between the predetermined periods by the usage amount of the belt at each of the predetermined periods, and determining a unit amount of change in the usage amount units, and subtracting from the most recent belt remaining thickness data a management threshold value which shows the thickness of the belt and which is to be used as an indicator for replacement, and dividing the result of this subtraction by the unit amount of change, determines a remaining lifespan that shows the future amount of use until the belt needs to be replaced.

According to some embodiments disclosed herein, a system is provided to measure a tread of a tire. The system includes a nonmagnetic layer providing a drive over surface, a magnet, and a magnetic sensor associated with the magnet. The drive over surface is adapted to receive the tire thereon including the tread to be measured. The magnet has opposing first and second magnetic poles, the nonmagnetic layer is between the drive over surface and the magnet, and the magnet is arranged so that the first magnetic pole is between the second magnetic pole and the nonmagnetic layer. The nonmagnetic layer is between the drive over surface and the magnetic sensor, and the magnetic sensor is configured to detect a magnetic field resulting from the magnet and the tire on the drive over surface.