INFICON SQC-222 User Manual

SQC-222 Thin Film CoDeposition Controller

User’s Guide

Version 3.08

ΣΣ

Sigma

instruments

Safety Information

Read this manual before installing, operating, or servicing equipment. Do not install substitute parts, or perform any unauthorized modification of the product. Return the product to Sigma Instruments for service and repair to ensure that safety features are maintained.

Safety Symbols

WARNING: Calls attention to a procedure, practice, or condition that could possibly cause bodily injury or death.

CAUTION: Calls attention to a procedure, practice, or condition that could possibly cause damage to equipment or permanent loss of data.

Refer to all manual Warning or Caution information before using this product to avoid personal injury or equipment damage.

Hazardous voltages may be present.

Earth ground symbol.

Chassis ground symbol.

Equipotential ground symbol.

Warranty Information

This Sigma Instruments product is warranted against defects in material and workmanship for a period of 2 years from the date of shipment, when used in accordance with the instructions in this manual. During the warranty period, Sigma Instruments will, at its option, either repair or replace products that prove to be defective.

Limitation of Warranty

Defects from, or repairs necessitated by, misuse or alteration of the product, or any cause other than defective materials or workmanship are not covered by this warranty. NO OTHER WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILIT Y AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL SIGMA INSTRUMENTS BE LIABLE FOR CONS EQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING FROM A BREACH OF THIS LIMITED WARRANTY, OR OTHERWISE.

Return Policy

The purchaser may return this product in new condition within 30 days after shipment for any reason. In case of return, purchaser is liable and responsible for all freight charges in both directions.

Sigma Instruments 120 Commerce Drive, Unit 1 Fort Collins, CO 80524 USA 970-416-9660 970-416-9330 (fax)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Quick Start

1.0 Introduction...................................................................................................... 1-1

1.1 Front Panel...................................................................................................... 1-1

1.2 Rear Panel.......................................................................................................1-2

1.3 System Connections........................................................................................1-3

1.4 Installation....................................................................................................... 1-4

1.5 Menus.............................................................................................................. 1-5

1.6 Thin Film Process Overview............................................................................1-7

1.7 Building a Process........................................................................................... 1-8

1.8 Depositing a Film............................................................................................. 1-11

Chapter 2 Operation

2.0 Introduction...................................................................................................... 2-1

2.1 Definitions........................................................................................................ 2-1

2.2 Defining a Film.................................................................................................2-1

2.3 Defining a Process.......................................................................................... 2-5

2.4 Sensor Setup................................................................................................... 2-7

2.5 Source Setup................................................................................................... 2-10

2.6 Running a Process..........................................................................................2-11

2.7 Loop Tuning.....................................................................................................2-15

2.8 Troubleshooting............................................................................................... 2-17

Chapter 3 Menus

3.0 Introduction...................................................................................................... 3-1

3.1 Main Menu 1.................................................................................................... 3-2

3.2 Main Menu 2.................................................................................................... 3-3

3.3 Main Menu 3.................................................................................................... 3-4

3.4 Quick Setup Menu........................................................................................... 3-5

3.5 Process Menu..................................................................................................3-7

3.6 Layer Menus.................................................................................................... 3-9

3.7 Cut/Copy Menu................................................................................................3-12

3.8 Film Menu........................................................................................................ 3-14

3.9 System Parameters Menu...............................................................................3-21

3.10 PLC I/O........................................................................................................... 3-26

Chapter 4 Maintenance & Installation

4.0 Introduction...................................................................................................... 4-1

4.1 Cleaning.......................................................................................................... 4-1

4.2 Software Upgrades.......................................................................................... 4-2

4.3 Option Card Installation................................................................................... 4-3

4.4 Half-Rack Adapter...........................................................................................4-3

4.5 Full Rack Adapter............................................................................................ 4-4

Chapter 5 Communications

5.0 Introduction...................................................................................................... 5-1

5.1 SQC-222 Comm Program ...............................................................................5-1

5.2 Protocol........................................................................................................... 5-1

5.3 Commands......................................................................................................5-2

Appendix

A. Material Parameters B. Specifications C. I/O Connections D. Handheld Remote Controller E. Declaratio n of Conformity

Chapter 1 Quick Start

1.0 Introduction

The SQC-222 is a multi-channel quartz crystal monitor and deposition controller. It measures two 1 MHz to 6 MHz quartz crystal sensors, and controls up to two evaporation sources. Eight process control relays, and eight digital inputs are easily configured to support a broad range of external functions, including source pocket rotation. The number of sensors, outputs, and digital I/O can be doubled with an optional expansion card.

This chapter will aid you in the initial setup and operation of your system . Plea se re view the entire manual for detailed operational, programming, and safety information.

1.1 Front Panel

SoftKeys Control Knob Remote Jack

Front Panel Controls

SoftKeys Provide access to instrument operations and setup menus.

The functions of the SoftKeys change to adapt to different operations and are displayed on the left of the screen.

Control Knob

Remote Jack

Used to adjust values and select menu items. Pushing the control knob stores the current setting and moves to the next.

Connection jack for the optional handheld remote controller. See Appendix D.

1-1

Chapter 1 Quick Start

1.2 Rear Panel

Manufactured By

Sigma

instruments

Sensor 3 Sensor 4 Output 3 O utput 4

Sensor 1 Sensor 2 Output 1 O utput 2

SQC-222 D eposition Controller Serial No.

I/O 9-16

I/O 1 - 8

100-120/200-240 V~

50/60 Hz

25 VA

Fuse T.5A 250V

RS-232

Rear Panel Connections

Sensor 1 & 2 Connects to quartz crystal sensor (see next section).

Output 1 & 2 Connects the SQC-222 output to your evaporation supply

control input (see next section).

I/O (1-8) Connects 8 relays and 8 digital inputs to external equipment for

process control. See Appendix C for connections.

RS-232 Connects to a computer for programming and data acquisition.

Also used for the PLC I/O option.

Sensor 3 & 4, Output 3 & 4,

Increases the number of input, output, and digital I/O connections when the optional expansion card is installed.

I/O 9-16

Measurement ground terminal useful for common system and cable grounding.

1-2

Chapter 1 Quick Start

Power Input and Fuse

Connects to mains power. The SQC-222 automatically detects mains voltages of 100-120 and 200-240VAC, 50/60 Hz

ARNING: For continued protection, replace fuses with the

proper type and rating. WARNING: Use removable power cords only of the specified

type and rating, attached to a properly grounded receptacle.

1-3

Chapter 1 Quick Start

1.3 System Connections

Sensor

In-V ac Cable

Feedthrough

Source Shutter

Evaporation Supply

Output Control Input

6" BNC Cable

O s cillat o r

BNC Cables

Ground Wire

System Components

Sensor Holds the quartz crystal used to measure rate and thickness.

Crystals must be replaced occasionally.

In-Vac Cable A coaxial cable that connects the sensor to the feedthrough.

Feedthrough Provides isolation between vacuum and atmosphere for

electrical and cooling lines.

6” BNC Cable Provides a flexible connection from the feedthrough to the

oscillator. Keep this cable as short as possible.

Oscillator Contains the electronics to operate the quartz crystal. Total

cable length to the crystal should be under 40”.

Sensor Input BNC Cable

Control Output BNC Cable

Connects the oscillator to the SQC-222 input. Lengths up to 100’ are acceptable.

Connects the SQC-222 output to the evaporation source’s control voltage input. Keep the length below 10’.

Ground Wire A wire, typically braided, that connects the vacuum system to

the SQC-222 ground terminal. Important for noise rejection.

1-4

Chapter 1 Quick Start

1.4 Installation

WARNING: Care should be exercised to route SQC-222 cables as far as practical from other cables that carry high voltages or generate noise. This includes other line voltage cables, wires to heaters that are SCR-controlled, and cables to source power supplies that may conduct high transient currents during arc down conditions.

Rack Installation

Power Connection

Sensor Input Connections

Source Output Connections

Digital I/O Connections

The SQC-222 occupies a 5.25” high, half-rack space. An optional installation kit is available to adapt to a full rack (see Chapter 4). Install the unit in a 19” rack with the supplied hardware.

The SQC-222 automatically detects mains voltages of 100-120 and 200-240VAC, 50/60Hz .

WARNING: Verify that the power cable provided is connected to a properly grounded mains receptacle.

Connect the BNC cables and oscillators from your vacuum chamber feedthrough to the desired SQC-222 sensor inputs. See the previous section for cabling details.

Connect the BNC cables from the SQC-222 output connectors to your evaporation supply control input. Consult your Power Supply operator’s manual for control input wiring instructions.

Refer to Appendix C for details on wiring digital I/O to the SQC222 Relay I/O connectors. Appendix C also covers I/O wiring with the optional PLC.

Computer Connection

If you would like to use the Windows software to collect data or program the SQC-222, attach a 9 pin straight-thru cable from the RS-232 connector to your computer’s serial port. A cable is supplied with the SQC-222.

1-5

Chapter 1 Quick Start

1.5 Menus

At power up the SQC-222 briefly displays initialization and version information, then the Main screen.

Note: If you are prompted for a password, use the switches along the left of the screen to enter the password. The top switch is “1”, the bottom switch is “6.” See the System Parameters section of this manual for password setup information.

Process 1 : Layer 1 of 1 Run # :0

Stopped

Power (% vs. Time)

100.0

0:00:00

Quick

Edit

Auto /

Manual

50.0

Zero

0.0

Layer

Start

Out#

1 2 3 4

0.0 R a te (A /S )

0.00

6.2

12.5

Dev(%)

00.0

18.8

Thick(kA )

0.000

25.0

Pow(%)

0.0

M a in S c r ee n

The first line of the Main screen shows the name of the currently selected process. After the process name are the layer that will run when the Start SoftKey is pushed, and the total number of layers in the process. Further to the right is the number of times this process has been run.

The second line of the Main screen is a status line. It displays the current phase of the deposition cycle, and other status or error messages. When the process is running, the right side of this line shows the process elapsed time.

Three graphs are possible: rate, rate deviation, and output power. The graphs scale the vertical axis and scroll the horizontal axis based on the data displayed.

Below the graph are two lines that show deposition readings (four lines if the option card is installed). This section shows current rate, rate deviation, thickness, and output power as shown above. Alternatively it can show measured rate and thickness versus rate and thickness setpoints.

1-6

Chapter 1 Quick Start

The six SoftKey legends along the left side of the screen will change, depending on the status of the process and the functions you select. Press Next Menu to display alternate main screen menus:

Main Menu 1 Main Menu 2 Main Menu 3

Quick

Edit

Auto /

Manual

Zero

Layer

Start

Selec t th e n ext la yer

Main Menu 1

Access the most

comm only edited

setting s.

Switch between PID

and Manual power

control.

Zero the thickness

reading on all

channels.

in the process.

Start or Stop the

selected layer.

Graph

Display

Sensor

Info

Layer

Start

Third menu available only

when process is stopped.

Switch graph between

Main Menu 2

rate, deviation, and

power.

Switch the readout

below the graph.

Dis p lay d eta ile d

sensor information.

Selec t th e n ext la yer

in the process.

Start or Abort the

process.

Process

Film

System Params

Start

Create or edit process

Create or edit films to

Main Menu 3

layers .

be used as layers.

Modify instrument

related se tting s.

Start the selected

layer.

Because Main Menu 3 provides access to functions that can completely redefine a process, it is available only when the process is not running.

Spend some time now moving between the three menus. Pay particular attention to the effects that the Main Menu 2 selections have on the displa y. W e will cover the setu p parameters of Main Menu 3 in the Building a Process section.

1-7

Chapter 1 Quick Start

1.6 Thin Film Deposition Overview

The SQC-222 stores the recipes, and provides the operating functions, required to control thin film deposition processes. A typical thin film deposition cycle is shown below.

The cycle can be broken into three distinct phases:

• Pre-conditioning (ramp/soak)

• Deposition

• Post-conditioning (feed/idle)

During pre-conditioning, power is supplied in steps to prepare the evaporation source for deposition. Once the material is near the desired deposition rate, material deposition begins.

During deposition, the PID loop adjusts the evaporation source power as required to maintain the desired rate. In CoDeposition multiple films can be deposited simultaneously.

When the desired thickness is reached, the evaporation source is set to idle power. At this point the process may be complete, or deposition of another layer may begin.

1-8

Chapter 1 Quick Start

1.7 Building a Process

This section presents a brief guide to building and running a simple one layer process. Chapter 2 covers instrument operation in much greater detail.

Create a Film

M a in

Screen

Edit

Delete

A film is a material to be deposited, and its associated deposition settings. Initially the list of films may be empty.

Press Next Menu until the Film Menu SoftKey is displayed. Press Film Menu to view a list of stored films. Turn the setting knob to scroll to an entry in the list that is currently labeled <Empty>.

Press the Create SoftKey to create a default film at that location. Note the film number that you just created. For now, accept the default film parameters.

Press Main Screen to return to the main screen.

Process 1

S c ro ll film s w ith k n o b .

1. Film 1

2. Film 2

3. Film 3 4 . F ilm 4

5. Film 5

6. Film 6

7 . F ilm 7

8. Film 8

9. Film 9

10. Film 10

11. Film 11

12. Film 12

13. Film 13

F ilm Se le c t Me n u

Now that we are sure that at least one film exists, we will build a simple single layer process using that film.

1-9

Chapter 1 Quick Start

Select Process

Edit Process

Insert Layer

Press the Process Menu SoftKey to view a list of processes. Turn the setting knob to scroll to an entry in the list that is

labeled <Empty>. Press the Create SoftKey to create a default process at that

location. Press the Select SoftKey to make the selection the active

process.

Press the Edit SoftKey to view a list of layers in the selected process. The layers list should be blank.

Press Insert Layer, then scroll down the list of films to the film you just created.

Press Insert Normal to insert the selected film as Layer 1. The display returns to the Layer Select menu.

Ma in

Edit

Cut /

Paste

Insert Layer

P ro c e ss 2 5 -> L a ye r 1 -> F ilm 1

Layer

Layer1

Layer S elect Menu

F ilm

F ilm 1

A process consists of one or more layers. Each layer can have a different film, or even multiple films (CoDeposition). For this example, we will stop with only a single layer.

1-10

Chapter 1 Quick Start

Edit Layer

Main

Edit

With Layer 1 selected, press Edit to display the Layer Edit menu for Layer 1.

Process 1 -> Layer 1 -> Film 1

Parameter Value Units In it R a te 1 0 .0 A /s

Fnl T hk Tim e Setpoint

Thickness Lim it Start M ode Output

Max. Power 90.0 S le w R a te

Sensor 1 Sensor 2 Sensor 3

Sensor 4 Ramp1

0.100 0:00:00 h:m m:ss

0.000

Manual

Out1

90.0 On

Off Off Off

Disabled

Layer Edit M enu

k/A

kA A u to /M a n .

O ut1/O u t2

% %

O n/O ff O n/O ff

O n/O ff O n/O ff En/Dis

Edit Menu Operation

Edit Layer 1

To edit a setting in any menu, turn the control knob to scroll to the desired setting, then press the Edit SoftKey. The cursor moves to the setting value, and the SoftKey functions change to show:

Next: Store the parameter and move to next parameter for editing.

Cancel: Stop editing and return the selected parameter to its previous value.

Enter: Stop editing and save values for selected pa rameter.

In Edit mode, adjust the control knob to set the desired parameter value.

Spend some time navigating through the Layer 1 parameters and editing values. When you are comfortable, be sure your values for Layer 1 match those shown above.

Press Main Menu to return to the Main Screen.

We have completed the design of a single layer process.

1-11

Chapter 1 Quick Start

1.8 Depositing a Film

Note: You can simulate the steps below, without actually depositing a film, by going to the System Params Menu and selecting Simulate Mode ON. Simulate mode is useful for testing processes before applying power to the evaporation supply. See Section 3.6 for detailed System Parameters Menu information.

Verify Sensor Operation

Show Power Graph

Verify Output Operation

Press Next Menu until the Sensor Info option is shown. Press Sensor Info to display the quartz sensor readings.

Sensor 1 should be ON and display a % life of over 50%. If not, check your sensor connections (Section 1.3), and refer to Min/Max Frequency (Section 3.6).

Press Exit to return to the main screen.

Press the Next Graph SoftKey until the graph shows Power (% vs. Time).

Press the Next Menu SoftKey until the Auto/Manual SoftKey is displayed. Now press Auto/Manual until Manual/Auto is displayed. Press Start to begin deposition in manual mode.

Slowly turn the control knob to increase the control voltage to your evaporation supply. Verify that the Power(%) reading for Output 1 (lower right, below graph) approximates the actual output of your evaporation supply. If not, check your hookup (Section 1.3), and refer to Scale Voltage (S ecti on 3.6) .

Caution: Observe the output power versus your evaporation supply’s actual output. If there is a problem, press the Stop SoftKey immediately.

Enter Auto Mode

Please take time to review the remainder of this manual for detailed operational, programming, and safety information.

Press the Next Menu key until the Manual/Auto SoftKey is shown. Press Manual/Auto to change the SoftKey display to Auto/Manual. This places the output under PID deposition control.

Press Stop at any time to halt deposition and set output power to zero.

1-12

Chapter 1 Quick Start

1-13

Chapter 2 Operation

2.0 Introduction

This chapter describes common tasks associated with operating the SQC-222. It assumes that you understand basic operation of the menus and parameter setup as described in Chapter 1. Detailed definitions of each parameter can be found under the appropriate menu description in Chapter 3.

2.1 Definitions

Several terms will be used repeatedly throughout this manual. It is important that you understand each of these terms.

Material: A physical material to be deposited. A database of approximately 100 materials is stored in the SQC-222, and additional materials may be added using the setup software. Three parameters completely define a material: Name, Density, and ZFactor. A table of common materials, their density, and Z-Factor is listed in Appendix A.

Film: A film describes in detail how a material will be deposited. It includes the material definition and all of the preconditioning, deposition, and post conditioning variables necessary to accurately deposit the materi al. Bec ause th e film de fini ti on does not include rate and thickness information, a single film can be used in several different layers and processes. The SQC-222 stores up to 25 films.

Layer: Layers are the basic building blocks of processes. A layer consists of a film and the thickness and rate setpoints for that stage of the process. Layers also define which outputs and sensors will be used at that point in the process. Codeposition of multiple films occurs when more than one output is active during a layer.

Process: A process is a sequence of layers to be deposited. The SQC-222 can store up to 25 processes, consisting of a total of 400 layers.

Phase: A step in the deposition cycle. Preconditioning phases include Ramp 1, Soak 1, Ramp 2, Soak 2. Deposit phases include indexer rotate, shutter delay, deposition, and deposition rate ramps. Post conditioning phases include Feed Ramp, Feed, and Idle Power.

2-1

Chapter 2 Operation

2.2 Defining a Film

A film is a material to be deposited, plus all of its associated setup parameters. Keep in mind that a film can be used in multiple layers, or even multiple processes. Editing a film’s parameters will cause changes to every location where the film is used.

To define a film, press Next Menu until Film Menu is shown (Menu 3). Press Film Menu. A list of 25 films (or <Empty>) will be displayed. To define a new film, scroll to <Empty> and press Create. A new Film# is added to the list of existing films (you can use the SQC-222 setup software later to assign descriptive film names). Press Edit to display the parameters fo r this film.

Main

Edit

F ilm

Conds.

Deposit

Controls

P ro c e s s 1 Editin g : F ilm 1

Parameter Value Units P Term 50 None

I T e rm D Term 0.0 Sec. F ilm T oolin g

Pocket C rystal Qu ality Crys t a l Stability

Xtal Fail M ode Material Density

Z Factor

0.7

100 None

Disabled Disabled Halt

Aluminum

2.73

1.08

F ilm E d it M e n u

Sec.

gm/cc

P Term is the proportional gain, that is the % process rate change divided by the % input power change. The I Term (integral) sums the rate deviations over time to more accurately achieve the rate setpoint. The D Term (derivative) speeds response to sudden changes in rate. Volumes have been written on determining the proper PID settings. See the section on Loop Tuning later in this chapter for a common PID loop tuning procedure. Start with P=25, I=.5, D=0.

Film Tooling adjusts for differences in actual versus measured thickness for this film (material). This parameter is seldom used, but can adjust for material specific dispersion patterns. See Xtal Tooling in the System Par a meters menu for the more commonly used tooling correction.

Pocket selects the source pocket used for this film. This parameter requires that the I/O Setup section of the System Parameters me nu be pr og r am med for pocket rel ay s .

2-2

Chapter 2 Operation

The next chapter covers Crystal Quality, Stability, and Fail Mode. For initial operation leave Quality and Stability disabled, and Fail Mode set to Halt.

With Material highlighted, press Edit to scroll through the list of available materials. Select the desired material and press Enter. You could also change the Density and ZFactor for the selected material, but it is unlikely those values are wrong. To add a new material or edit the name of an existing material, you must use the SQC-222 setup software.

Film conditioning adjusts the output power level to achieve a desired material state before and after deposition. Press Film Conds to enter the film conditioning menu.

M a in

Edit

Process 1 Editing: Film 1

Param eter Value Un its Ramp1 Power

Ramp1 T ime Soak1 Time

Ramp2 Power

Ramp2 T ime Soak2 Time

Feed Power

Ramp Time Feed Time

Idle Powe r

Ramp Time

Film C onditioning Menu

25.0 %

0:00:10 0:00:05 h:mm:ss

50.0 0:00:05 0:00:05

0.0 0:00:00 0:00:00

0.0 0:00:00

h:mm:ss

% h:mm:ss h:mm:ss %

h:mm:ss h:mm:ss %

h:mm:ss

Ramp1 starts at 0% power and increases the power during Ramp1 Time to the Ramp 1 power level. Set the Ramp 1 Power and Time to gradually bring the material to a near molten state. Set the Soak 1 Time to a value that will allow the material to homogeneously achieve that state. Ramp 2 is used to slowly bring the material to a power level that nearly matches the desired deposition power. Use Soak 2 to hold the material at that level until deposition (i.e. rate control) begins.

If you use wire feed to replenish material after deposition, set the Feed Power and times as required. The idle conditioning phase typically ramps output power back toward zero at the end of a process.

From the Film Conds menu, press Prev Menu to return to the main Film Params menu.

2-3

Chapter 2 Operation

Now press Deposit Controls. The Deposit Controls menu contains parameters that modify operation during the deposition phase.

Process 1 Editing: Film 1

Main

Edit

Shutter delay causes the SQC-222 to delay opening the shutter until the process has stabilized at the desired deposition rate. Capture is the % rate deviation that must be achieved to open the shutter and go to the Deposit phase. Shutter delay is the maximum amount of time to wait for capture to be achieved. Set Shutter Delay and Capture to zero to disable this feature.

Parameter Value Units Shutter Delay Capture Control Error

Setting Error

Rate Sampling

Setting

0:00:00 h:mm:ss

0.0 (Ignore, Stop, Hold) Stop

0.0 (Cont, Time, Acc based) Continuous

Deposition Controls Menu

During co-deposition, the SQC-222 waits for all films to achieve capture before moving to the deposit phase. If any film fails to achieve rate capture within its programmed shutter delay time, an error occurs.

If the SQC-222 is unable to maintain the desired deposition rate (for example, out of material or a bad sensor), one of three actions is possible. Keep trying (Ignore), set power to zero to halt deposition (Stop), or maintain constant power (Hold) and extrapolate thickness from the last good rate reading. Until your process is known and stable, it is best to leave the Control Error setting on Ignore.

Rate sampling can extend sensor life in high rate processes. Select Cont (continuous) to disable rate sampling. A Time selection closes the shutter for a fixed time, then opens the shutter for a fixed time to sample the rate. Acc Based (accuracy based) sampling closes the shutter for a fixed time, then opens the shutter until the desired rate is achieved. Rate Sampling assumes a very stable process!

2-4

Chapter 2 Operation

2.3 Defining a Process

To define a process, press Next Menu until the Process Menu SoftKey is shown. Press Process Menu. A list of 25 processes (or <Empty>) will be displayed. To define a new

process, scroll to <Empty> and press Create. A new Process# is added to the list of existing processes (use the SQC-222 setup software to assign descriptive process names).

Press Select, then Edit to display the sequence of layers and films that comprise the selected process.

To add a layer, scroll to the desired location in the layer sequence, and press Insert Layer. Select a film from the list and press Insert Normal to insert a new layer. Layers are always inserted at the selected layer. The selected layer and subsequent layers will be shifted down.

Hint: When building a process it may be easiest to add a “dummy” last layer and keep inserting above that layer. When the process is complete, delete the “dummy” layer.

To add a film to an existing layer so that materials will be codeposited, highligh t the layer after the desired codeposition layer. Press Insert Layer, select the desired film, then press Insert CoDep. The codeposited film will be inserted in the layer above the selected layer, and indented to show that it is a codeposition film.

The display below shows two films being codeposited with Film1, then a fourth film being deposited as an additional layer. While layers are always numbered sequentially, the films are sequential only for this example. Any film can be used in any layer.

Ma in

Edit

Cut /

Paste Insert

Layer

P ro c e ss 2 5 -> L a ye r 1 -> F ilm 1

Layer Layer1 L a y e r2

L a y e r3 Layer4

F ilm

F ilm 1 F ilm 2

F ilm 3 F ilm 4

Layer S elect M enu

2-5

Chapter 2 Operation

To delete a layer, highlight it in the Layer Select menu and press Cut/Paste. On the Cut/Paste menu, press Cut to remove the layer. Press Prev Menu to return to

the Layer Select menu.

Main

Copy

Cut

P ro c e ss 2 5 -> L a ye r 1 -> F ilm 1

Layer Layer1 L a y e r2

L a y e r3 Layer4

Cu t/Paste Menu

F ilm

F ilm 1 F ilm 2

F ilm 3 F ilm 4

To move or duplicate a layer, highlight it in the Layer Select menu and press Cut/Paste. On the Cut/Paste menu, press Cut to remove the layer. A copy of the layer is automatically saved to copy/paste memory. Press Copy to save a copy to memory without removing the layer. Without leaving the Cut/Past menu, highlight the layer that you want to insert the cut layer above and press Paste Normal or Paste CoDep.

Operations on the Cut/Past menu can be repeated several times. Each cut operation overwrites the cut/paste memory. Pressing Prev Menu on the Cut/Past menu returns to the Layer Select menu. The contents of copy/paste memory are lost!

Note: Once a film is assigned to a process layer, you cannot change the film. Instead, cut the layer, then insert a new layer and select the desired film.

2-6

Chapter 2 Operation

2.4 Defining a Layer

To edit a Process Layer, press Process Menu. Select the desired process, then press Edit. Finally, select the desired layer and press Edit.

Main

Edit

Process 1 -> Layer 1 -> Film 1

Parameter Value Units In it R a te 1 0 .0 A /s

Fnl Thk

Tim e Setpoint

Thickness Lim it Start Mode Output

Max. Power 90.0

S le w R a te Sensor 1

Sensor 2

Sensor 3 Sensor 4 Ramp1

0.100 0:00:00 h:mm :ss

0.000 Manual Out1

90.0 On

Off Off Off

Disabled

k/A

A u to /M a n . O ut1/O u t2

% %

O n/O ff O n/O ff

En/Dis

Layer Edit M enu

Initial Rate and Final Thickness are the main process setpoints for the film used in this layer. Time Setpoint and Thickness Limit are secondary values that will activate a rela y when they are reached.

Start Mode controls operation in multi layer processes. In Auto Start the layer starts immediately on completion of the previous layer. Manual Start waits for a user signal via the front panel, RS-232, or digital input to start the layer. Don’t confuse this Manual Start mode with the Manual Power SoftKey function.

The Output entry assigns the layer/film parameters to a specific SQC-222 rear panel output. The layer and film parameters for power, preconditioning, PID settings, etc. will be applied to the selected output. Assign the Max Power and Slew Rate appropriate for this material and your power supply. For now, set both to 100%. Set them to lower values if you find that small power changes cause excessively large changes in deposition rate.

The SQC-222 can use multiple sensors to measure a film’s deposition rate and thickness. If multiple sensors are selected, an average of the sensors is used. Set each sensor that will be used to measure this film to ON.

Rate Ramps allow the PID controlled deposition rate to change over time, under PID control. Each rate ramp has a starting thickness, an elapsed time to ramp to the new rate, and a new rate setpoint. Each process layer can have up to two rate ramps.

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