Installing Actuel Picoammeter Software on Windows 7

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Normally the installation of our Actuel software used with the RBD 9103 USB Picoammeter is pretty straight forward. Sometimes though, Windows can make it a little bit more challenging.

When installing Actuel on a Windows 7 PC, the setup may not automatically select “run as administrator” and if not, Actuel will load properly but will not communicate with the 9103.

To solve this problem, click on the start button in the lower left hand corner of your monitor and hover over the Actuel program ( if it is not already in the list of programs select All Programs, RBD Instruments, Picoammeter, and then  right click on the Actuel program Icon and select Properties.

Select the Compatibility tab and check the Run this program as administrator check box. Actuel will now properly communicate with the 9103 picoammeter.

Actuel Properties dialog box

Actuel Properties dialog box

 

For more information on Actuel and the 9103 Picoammeter, click on these links:

Actuel Software Video

9103 USB Picoammeter datasheet

 

Ion gauge filament replacement procedure

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Another common question we get is how to connect the wires on an ion gauge after replacing the filaments.  The tech tip link below titled Ion Gauge Filament Replacement shows the pin outs for an ion gauge on a Physical Electronics  (PHI) surface analysis system. The attached tech tip is back from 2006 when we were still going by RBD Enterprises, note our new website address and email address at the bottom of this post.

Other manufacturers’ ion gauges are all basically the same – a dual filament, a grid and a collector wire.  Here is a link to a Stanford Research Systems .PDF that has an excellent overview of ion gauges.  Ion Gauge Theory

If you need an ion gauge filament or replacement ion gauge, RBD provides not only gauges and filaments for PHI systems but also for all of the other more common ones (Granville Phillips, KJL, Varian, Veeco….) – We make the full range of standard Bayard Alpert (BA) Gauges: tungsten or iridium filaments; with or without an internal platinum coating; glass or metal side tubulations; standard 1″ (25.4mm) or 3/4″ (19mm) diameter. Special glass diameters are available upon request.

Contact us for more information.

Ion Gauge Filament Replacement PDF

Imaging on a PHI scanning auger electron microprobe

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This topic is something that we still get regular requests for information about. I first wrote this tech tip back in 2004 to summarize the training that we perform when installing a PHI 660 scanning auger electron microprobe.  It still comes in handy today, especially in university labs where the system operators change on a regular basis.  AES Imaging Procedure

660 Scanning Auger electron microprobe

PHI 660 Scanning Auger with RBD 147 PC upgrade

 

The most common source of trouble with imaging on a PHI scanning auger electron microprobe is simply that it is time to replace the Lab6 filament. If you need a new filament for your older PHI scanning auger electron microprobe, RBD provides the filaments for about 1/2 of what they can cost elsewhere.

Still need some help imaging?   Feel free to contact us for more information.