1. A system for monitoring operation of a machine sensor, the system comprising:
a phase sensor signal input for receiving a phase signal of a moving element of a machine, the phase signal being measured by the machine sensor and indicating the operation of the machine sensor and an operation of the moving element of the machine;
an analog-to-digital converter for converting the phase signal to a digital signal; and
a storage system for saving the digital signal in response to a fault of the machine sensor indicated by the phase signal during the operation of the machine sensor.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the storage system saves the digital signal over a period of time including the occurrence of the fault.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the storage system saves the digital signal in response to the occurrence of the fault.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the storage system is resident with logic.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a communication module for communicating the digital signal to a remote computer system.
6. (canceled)
7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a diagnostics system for identifying a cause of the fault.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the diagnostics system uses other data than the digital signal in identifying the cause of the fault.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the storage system stores the digital signal as part of at least one of: a system event record and an alarm event record.
10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a signal configuration module for configuring the phase signal.
11. A method of monitoring operation of a machine sensor, the method comprising:
obtaining a phase signal from the machine sensor, the phase signal indicating a phase of a moving element of a machine and the operation of the machine sensor;
converting the phase signal into a digital signal; and
saving the digital signal in response to a fault of the machine sensor indicated by the phase signal during the operation of the phase machine sensor.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the saving includes saving the digital signal over one of: a period of time or in response to the occurrence of the fault.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein the saving includes saving the digital signal as part of at least one of: a system event record and an alarm event record.
14. The method of claim 11, further comprising communicating the saved digital signal to a remote computer system.
15. (canceled)
16. The method of claim 11, further comprising identifying a cause of the fault.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the identifying includes analyzing data from another sensor than the phase sensor.
18. The method of claim 11, further comprising configuring the phase signal based on the saved digital signal.
19. A system comprising:
a phase sensor signal input for receiving a phase signal of a moving element of a machine, the phase signal being measured by a machine sensor and indicating operation of the machine sensor and an operation of the moving element of the machine;
an analog-to-digital converter for converting the phase signal to a digital signal;
a storage system for saving the digital signal in response to a fault of the machine sensor indicated by the phase signal during the operation of the machine sensor;
a communication module for communicating the digital signal to a remote computer system; and
a signal configuration module for configuring the phase signal based on the digital signal.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the storage system saves the digital signal over one of: a period of time or in response to the occurrence of the fault.
21. The system of claim 1, wherein the storage system further saves the digital signal in response to an alarm from another sensor.
22. The system of claim 19, wherein the storage system further saves the digital signal in response to an alarm from another sensor.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of manufacturing a photodiode device, comprising:
providing a wafer having a substrate and an epitaxy layer, the epitaxy layer having a window layer and a cap layer on the window layer;
depositing a patterned conductive layer on the epitaxy layer, the patterned conductive layer having a footing structure horizontally extending from the bottom of the patterned conductive layer, the footing structure having a thickness equal to or less than one fifteenth of a thickness of the patterned conductive layer; and
removing a portion of the footing structure.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the patterned conductive layer is a multiple layered structure, the multiple layered structure being formed by depositing different materials on the epitaxy layer under only one mask.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the mask is a negative-typed photoresist, and the method further comprises removing the mask and conductive materials deposited on the mask by way of a lift-off process after the patterned conductive layer is deposited.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the negative-typed photo resist is between 9 \u03bcm and 12 \u03bcm thick, and the patterned conductive layer is between 4 \u03bcm and 8 \u03bcm thick.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of depositing the patterned conductive layer further comprising using an evaporation process to make the patterned conductive layer formed with a bottom area and a top area, wherein the bottom area is greater than the top area.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of depositing the patterned conductive layer further comprising:
forming an opening within the mask, the opening exposing the epitaxy layer;
depositing materials of the patterned conductive layer on the epitaxy layer; and
gradually reducing the size of the opening by gradually depositing the materials on an edge of the mask, the edge being near the opening.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the patterned conductive layer further comprises a top barrier layer for protecting the patterned conductive layer when the step of removing a portion of the footing structure is performed using drying etching.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of removing the footing structure is performed by dry etching with a flow rate of an inert gas ranging from about 15 sccm to about 25 sccm under a pressure between 10 to 30 mTorr.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the dry etching is performed with a power level between about 100 Watts and about 500 Watts and a DC bias between about 300 volts and about 600 volts.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of etching a portion of the cap layer is performed before the step of depositing the patterned conductive layer.
11. A photodiode device made by a method according to one of claims 1-10.
12. A photodiode device, comprising,
a substrate;
a epitaxy layer on the substrate, the epitaxy layer having a window layer and a cap layer covering a portion of the window layer; and
a patterned conductive layer on the cap layer, wherein the patterned conductive layer being formed with a bottom area and a top area, wherein the bottom area is greater than the top area.
13. The photodiode device of claim 12, wherein the patterned conductive layer on the epitaxy layer is characteristic in no footing structure horizontally extending from the bottom of the patterned conductive layer in a thickness equal to or less than one fifteenth of a thickness of the patterned conductive layer.
14. The photodiode device of claim 12, wherein the patterned conductive layer is a multiple layered structure, the multiple layered structure being formed by depositing different materials under only one mask.