A blog on the repair, operation and calibration of surface analysis systems and components including electron spectrometers, sputter ion guns and vacuum related hardware. Click on the Index tab below to see a list of all posts. Visit our website at http://www.rbdinstruments.com
ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), is a fantastic resource for Surface Analysis techniques including Auger Electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and Energy-dispersive-ray spectroscopy.
Using the search tool on the ASTM website you can easily find standards for anything from specimen mounting and preparation to data interpretation. Simply type in a keyword such as Auger, XPS, SIMS, EDX or SEM and you will get a listing of all standards with that keyword.
You can purchase the single standard that you are interested in or sign up for one of the many subscription options that are available.
If you can’t find what you need on their website you can contact ASTM at 1-877-909-ASTM
The procedure to replace the ionizer on a 04-303 or 06-350 ion gun is one of those things that once you see it done, you know how to do it. You can expect to replace your ionizer anywhere from once every few years to once every few months, depending on how much sputtering you do. For most people it will be about once every 6 months.
It takes about 10 minutes to replace the ionizer once the system has been vented, and this video takes you through the process from start to finish:
TIP: Be careful not to drop the flat head ionizer retainer screws into the source as you remove or install the ionizer assembly. If you do, they usually fall down to the inside of the ion gun wall and you can get them out using a screw driver or wire with some tape on the end of it (clean the screw afterwards). If you can’t see them, you will need to pull the source off and find them for sure as there is a slight chance that they can fall into the differential pumping port and eventually work their way down to the turbo pump. Turbo pumps blades that are spinning at 60,0000 RPMs or more do not like to get hit with small stainless steel screws.
RBD Instruments provides a rebuilding service for the 04-303 and 06-360 ionizers as well as an Argon bottle gas refill service. Our filaments typically last for 1100 hours under normal operating conditions.
In addition to the 04-303 ionizers, we also provide filaments for the 04-300, 04-191/2 and 04-161/2 ion guns.
On the older Physical Electronics (PHI) surface analysis systems that are still in service the communication between the computer and the electronic units is based on the old DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) DR11C protocol. In the late 70s and early 80s PHI used DEC PDP11 computers to control their line of Scanning Auger and X-ray Photoelectron (then called ESCA, now called XPS) Spectrometers. They transitioned to Perkin-Elmer 7000 series computers in the early-80s, then the Apollo workstations in the late 80s and finally to IBM-compatible PCs in the 90s. The one thing that all of these computers had in common was that the interface to the electronics was based on the DR11C protocol.
Occasionally an electronic unit in the DR11 chain can have a problem that results in the DR11 data bus being loaded down, which in turn can cause symptoms that indicate failure in another unit that is actually working properly. In these rare cases, a unit may work fine when tested on the bench, but fail when inserted into the DR11C daisy chain on the system.
For PHI systems that have the RBD 147 PC interface unit, it is easy to test the entire daisy chain using the diagnostics in the AugerScan program. Simply connect all of the units in the DR11C chain that you want to test and run the DR11C diagnostics in the Augerscan –System Diagnostics dialog box. DR11D reads in TTL data; DR11 ports A, B, and C all write TTL data out.
It is important to daisy chain only units that are on the same DR11 bus per the AugerScan and AugerMap software assignments. In the example below, all of the units use DR11A. Note that the DR11 male-to-female adapter is used to reverse the DR11 chain before it goes into the RBD 147 DR11D. Whenever testing a DR11 cable or port, the DR11D cable must be reversed 180 degrees from the normal configuration.
Testing the entire DR11 chain lets you know that all of the electronic units in the chain are not loading down the bus, and also that all of the cables have good contact. If the DR11 test fails, then you can test each cable one at a time and then add in one unit at a time until you find the cable or unit that is causing the failure. This can be a very useful technique when troubleshooting a problem where a unit may work fine on the bench but not when installed into the system’s electronics rack.
Here is a link to a detailed procedure on testing the DR11 ports on the RBD 147 PC interface unit – RBD 147 DR11 Testing
