Monochromator upgrade for PHI 5600 XPS system

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Randy

Installing a monochromator

This blog post shows the steps required to install a monochromator upgrade on a PHI 5600 XPS system.

The components of a monochromator upgrade include the monochromator housing, the crystal substrate and aligner, the mono X-ray source, and the X-ray source aligner. If your X-ray source is a 32-095 then you will need to replace that with a 32-096 that can drive two x-ray sources (standard dual anode and mono source). An additional water line is included to complete the cooling circuit between the standard and mono X-ray sources.

Step by step procedure:

First, vent the vacuum chamber.

Use a new 4 5/8” copper gasket and install X-ray source X Y Z aligner to the monochromator housing. It is much easier to install the X Y Z aligner onto the mono housing before the mono housing is mounted to the chamber.

Use a new 6” copper gasket and Install the monochromator housing to the chamber on the flange that is opposite of the hemispherical analyzer. It is heavy and so you will need at least two people to mount the monochromator housing to the flange on the chamber.

Once mounted tighten the nuts on the flange. In my experience, going in a circular pattern is the best way to tighten flanges on UHV chambers. The trick is to not over-tighten the nuts or bolts as you go around. Start out with just a little bit of torque and gradually increase it as you go around. One or two of the nuts on the back of the monochromator housing are exceedingly difficult to get to. A ½” U-shaped or half-moon wrench makes getting to those nuts easier.

Or you can simply cut a standard ½” wrench in half.

Once the nuts are tight and there is no gap between the flanges it is sealed.

Install the mono crystal substrate into the top mono flange assembly: Use gloves and very carefully remove the crystal substrate from its box and unwrap it, being careful not to touch the crystals. There are 3 recesses in the crystal block that line up with flat spaces on the mono flange assembly.

The crystal substrate is held in place with 3 clamps. The clamps mount on a guide screw and then there are two spring loaded set screws that provide tension to hold the crystal substrate in place.

Tighten the set screws to where they just start to tighten up, and then about 1/16” more. Do not over-tighten the set screws. They should be tight enough to hold the crystal substrate in place firmly, but not so tight that the springs inside the set screws are fully compressed.

Next, install a new rectangular Helicoflex type monochromator gasket into the top of the monochromator housing. It will sit into a recess and should be centered in the recess.

Put the mono housing shutter in the bakeout position. The chamber will be baked out and so the shutter will need to be set prior to the bake out. Also, you can see how the shutter works before the top mono flange is installed.

Install the top mono flange assembly onto the top of the mono housing. This can be done by one person. Make sure that the crystal substrate does not touch the sides of the mono housing as you lower the mono flange assembly. There are two guide pins to hold the mono flange assembly in place. The serial number on the mono flange assembly should line up with the serial number on the mono housing.

Install the bolts into the holes in the mono flange assembly and tighten them. For this flange, use little torque as you tighten the flange in a circular (rectangular) pattern. The bolts are coarse threads and you want to tighten the flange evenly.

Once the bolts are tight and there is no gap between the two flanges then it should be sealed.

Use a new 6” copper gasket and mount the 10-610 mono X-ray source to the 6” flange on the X Y Z aligner and tighten the nuts until there is no gap between the flanges or until the nuts are very tight, which ever comes first.

At this point the chamber can be pumped down and baked out. Make sure that all the housing parts and O-ring seals are removed from the 10-610 mono source prior to bake out.

The pictures below show the components of the 10-610 X-ray source as they are reassembled after the bake out.

After the chamber has been baked out, refer to the 10-610 mono X-ray source and 10-420 monochromator manuals for outgas, operation, and alignment information.

New Ion Beam Profiler

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Randy

Idaho National Laboratory has development a new type of ion beam profiler that reconstructs the ion beam intensity in two dimensions with a single measurement device.

This technology is available for licensing. More information can be found at this link –

Ion Beam Profiler

Companies interested in learning more about this licensing opportunity should contact Kala Majeti at [email protected] or by calling 248-877-8866

Argon Bottle Installation Procedure

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Randy

RBD Instruments provides a refill service for the 25cc Argon gas bottles that are used on PHI (Physical Electronics) 04-303 and 06-350 ion guns on X-ray Photo-electron and Auger Electron spectrometers.

This blog post will describe how to install the Argon bottle and pump out the small volume of air that is between the bottle valve and the leak valve. That small volume of air needs to be pumped out in order to prevent contaminating the argon in the new bottle.

The RBD part number to refill your 25cc Argon gas bottle is Argon25ccRP. We can provide you with an exchange bottle which you can install on your ion gun’s leak valve and then return your empty bottle to RBD. We also provide new bottles that do not require an exchange.

Procedure:

Make sure that the leak valve is closed (fully CW and the arm should be parallel with the valve body).
Close the green valve on the bottle (turn fully CW).
Remove the six cap head screws that seal the bottle to the leak valve.
Remove the bottle.
Make sure that the green valve on the new bottle is fully closed (CW). It should be very tight.
Use a new 1.33” copper gasket and install the new Argon bottle to the leak valve. If the old copper gasket is stuck to the leak valve flange, use a needle nose pliers to remove the old gasket. Do not use a small screwdriver as that can damage the knife edge. Tighten the 6 cap head screws evenly.
Next, we will pump out the small volume of air that is between the leak valve and the green valve on the gas bottle. You could just slowly open the leak valve and bleed the air into the chamber over a period of a day or two, but this procedure will pump that volume out in just a few minutes.
With the turbo pump ON, pump out the load lock. You can do that with the AVC remote by pressing the Pump Intro button, or by manually opening V3 on the auto valve controller. We will be using the turbo pump to pump out the chamber and so need to first pump out the load lock.
With the load lock pumped out (let it pump for 5 minutes or more), turn the high voltage OFF on the ion pump controller. If your system has a Boostivac you can set the HV switch from Run to Standby.
Press the I/T 3 button on the DIGIII ion gauge controller. That will turn the filament OFF but still leave the power to the DIGIII on.
With the green valve on the argon bottle still closed, open the leak valve 2 turns CCW. That will start to bleed air into the chamber.
Manually open V1. The turbo pump will now be pumping on the chamber.
Fully open the leak valve by turning CCW another 4 to 6 turns.
The turbo pump may spin down slightly. You should have 5 bars on the AVC remote after just a minute or two. Let the turbo pump on the chamber for about 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, press the I/T 3 button on the AVC to turn the ion gauge back on. You should be in the low 10-5 to mid-10-6 Torr range.
Flash the TSP for 2 minutes. Let the vacuum improve for a minute or two.
Start the ion pump high voltage. For a Boostivac, set the HV switch to Start, then to Run. The ion pump should stay on and the vacuum should be improving rapidly.
Manually close V1. The turbo pump is now isolated from the vacuum chamber.
Once you are in the low 10-8 Torr range, close the leak valve by turning it fully CW. The arm should be parallel with the valve body. Do not over tighten the leak valve.
With the leak valve closed (fully CW), open the green valve on the argon bottle by turning it CCW 1 full turn. You may need to use a pliers as these valves are closed very tightly once filled with argon. When the green valve is open the small volume between the green valve and the leak valve will be charged with argon.
Installation is complete. The vacuum will continue to improve and in 24 hours or so should be fully recovered to where the vacuum was prior to installing the new argon bottle. Even the small amount of air that was bled into the chamber has enough water vapor to degrade the chamber vacuum.