Operating Procedure for Using the 77-067 Digital Ion Gun Control with the
04-300 Ion Gun
Note: Unless otherwise indicated, the steps below are completed in the Ion Gun
Control dialog box.
- Select the Ion Gun Control command from the System menu to display the Ion Gun
Control dialog box.
- In the dialog box, make sure that the Beam Voltage and Emission Current values
are both set to zero (0).
- In the dialog box, click on the On button to turn on the beam for the ion gun.
- Set the Emission Current to 25mA.
- Bleed in argon until a value of 10mPA to 15mPA is displayed in the Pressure
area of the dialog box. This will coincide with approximately 2 x 10-7 torr if
the gun is not differentially pumped, and 2 x 10-8 torr if the gun is
differentially pumped.
- Click on the Standby button in the Beam area of the dialog box.
- Set the Beam Voltage to the desired value (3kV is the recommended maximum).
- Define the settings in the Raster area of the dialog box. A size of 8mm and a
ratio of .65 are the typical values.
- Click on the checkbox “Set to Standby on Close” so that when you close the dialog box, the ion beam is turned off but the
filament remains on when you close the dialog box.
- Close the dialog box.
The ion gun is now ready to sputter either automatically when you are
performing depth profiles or when you use the Sputter command.
Note that if the ion gun dialog box is displayed while acquiring data, the
pressure cannot be read and will display “----“.
Operating tips:
- When you will not be using the ion gun for prolonged periods of time, set the
Beam Voltage to zero (0), the Emission Current to zero (0), and turn off the
ion gun (click on the Off button in the dialog box). This results in a longer
filament lifetime by ensuring that the filament does not turn on when you are not
using the ion gun.
- Close the argon gas valve when sputtering is complete. This will lengthen the
lifetime of the ion pump elements.