{"id":1986,"date":"2017-06-06T19:27:28","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T02:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/?p=1986"},"modified":"2023-12-20T10:39:54","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T18:39:54","slug":"loading-phi-specimen-mounts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/loading-phi-specimen-mounts\/","title":{"rendered":"Loading PHI specimen mounts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Loading PHI specimen mounts<\/strong><\/p>\n

This post explains the mechanics involved with loading PHI specimen mounts used on most of the older to current Physical Electronics surface analysis systems.<\/p>\n

There are a number of different sizes and shapes of specimen (sample) mounts and they all use the same basic mounting and docking scheme.<\/p>\n

The most common sample mount used on older Physical Electronics XPS and AES surface analysis systems is the Model 190 flat one inch diameter specimen holder shown below.<\/p>\n

\"Model

The basic concept is that there are two grooves on the outside of the sample mounts which are used to transfer the sample mount into the vacuum chamber, and to dock the sample mount to the specimen stage. The transfer arm has a fork on the end which connects to the bottom groove on the specimen mount and the specimen stage has three clips which snap into the bottom groove and hold the specimen mount to the stage.\u00a0\u00a0 The top groove is used to hold the specimen mount while mounting it to the transfer arm fork or in the case of scanning auger systems, to transfer to the parking attachment.<\/p>\n

\"one_inch_sample_mount_from_side\"

\"Clips

There are two essential steps required to successfully dock and removing the specimen holders;<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Make sure that the specimen stage is perfectly centered under the transfer arm fork.<\/li>\n
  2. The specimen stage center clip needs to be lined up with the notch on the transfer arm fork.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"Line

    \"line

    Once you have the location of the specimen stage micrometers for the load and un-load positions you can make some marks on the specimen stage micrometers so that you will be able to easily re-position the specimen stage for loading and unloading.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0Loading PHI sample mounts procedure:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. After you attach the sample that you want to analyze to the specimen holder (using screws and clips or carbon\/silver tape). Back-fill the intro with dry nitrogen and mount the specimen holder to the sample fork. There are 2 different types of specimen mount holding tools as shown below. Or you can use a clean needle nose pliers. Pull the transfer arm out a little bit so that you can lower the specimen mount into the load lock and then move the transfer arm back in so that the fork slides over the bottom groove on the specimen mount.\n
      \"specimen

      \"sample

    2. Pump down the load lock by pressing the Pump Intro button on the AVC remote box.<\/li>\n
    3. Move the specimen stage micrometers to the load sample position. The X and Y axis will be centered under the intro fork but the Z axis will be lowered from the dock position by at least 1 cm.<\/li>\n
    4. After the load lock has pumped down (5 bars on the AVC remote plus a few more minutes – the longer you pump the sample, the lower the pressure burst and the less out-gassing you will have) press the\u00a0 Intro Sample button on the AVC remote and the V1 gate valve will open.<\/li>\n
    5. Move the intro arm forward to bring the sample into the vacuum chamber and push it all the way in until it hits the stop. If adjusted properly, the stop will be the correct position for docking the specimen mount.<\/li>\n
    6. The specimen mount should be directly above the specimen stage clips.\u00a0 If not adjust the X and Y on the specimen stage as needed.\n

      \"one_inch_sample_puck_above_specimen_stage\"

    7. Raise the specimen stage Z axis so that the clips slide into the specimen holder bottom groove. You may need to slightly adjust the X Y or rotation (if so equipped) so that the specimen holder snaps into the clips.\u00a0\u00a0 Slightly moving the specimen stage rotation or the tilt on the transfer arm can also help the specimen mount to snap down into the clips on the specimen stage as you move the specimen stage Z axis.\u00a0\u00a0 If the specimen mount does not snap down with a minimal amount of force, back off and recheck the specimen stage X and Y position.\u00a0 You do not want to damage any of the three clips on the specimen stage by crushing them. Once the clips have snapped in adjust the Z slightly until there is no gap between the bottom of the specimen holder and the specimen stage.\n

      \"one_inch_sample_puck_docking\"

    8. After the specimen mount is docked to the specimen stage, slowly retract the intro fork until it separates from the specimen holder and then once clear, pull the intro arm all the way out of the chamber. The V1 gate valve will close automatically.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      To remove a sample from the system, repeat the above procedure with the exception that the Z axis should be in the dock position so that the intro arm fork mounts to the lower groove of the specimen mount. Once you dock the load lock fork to the specimen mount, drop the Z axis on the specimen stage in order to separate the specimen holder from the specimen stage clips.<\/p>\n

      When the specimen holder is clear of the specimen stage you can pull the intro arm all the way out of the chamber and V1 will close automatically.<\/p>\n

      RBD Instruments provides new and used PHI specimen mounts.\u00a0 We also provide the sample clip assembly. Contact us for more information<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      \"RBD

      This slideshow requires JavaScript.<\/p>

      <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Loading PHI specimen mounts This post explains the mechanics involved with loading PHI specimen mounts used on most of the older to current Physical Electronics surface analysis systems. There are a number of different sizes and shapes of specimen (sample) … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[164,162],"tags":[249,250],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/one_inch_sample_puck_above_specimen_stage.jpg?fit=486%2C324&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2DEXo-w2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":684,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/xps-analyzer-focal-point\/","url_meta":{"origin":1986,"position":0},"title":"XPS analyzer focal point","author":"Randy","date":"July 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This post will explain how to find the analyzer focal point on a PHI 5000 series XPS system and then align the system microscope to that point. The general idea is that the lens on the SCA (spherical capacitive analyzer) has a very specific focal point where the highest counts,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Operation and Calibration Procedures"","block_context":{"text":"Operation and Calibration Procedures","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/operation-and-calibration-procedures\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"slotted-silver-specimen","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/slotted-silver-specimen-mounted-on-recessed-sample-mount.jpg?fit=664%2C565&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3501,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/avc-auto-valve-controller-theory-and-operation\/","url_meta":{"origin":1986,"position":1},"title":"AVC Auto Valve Controller Theory and Operation","author":"Randy","date":"February 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Theory and operation of Auto Valve controller (AVC) used on older Physical Electronics surface analysis systems.","rel":"","context":"In "Operation and Calibration Procedures"","block_context":{"text":"Operation and Calibration Procedures","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/operation-and-calibration-procedures\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AVC-controller.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AVC-controller.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AVC-controller.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AVC-controller.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3901,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/replacing-the-stage-brakes-on-a-15-630-specimen-stage\/","url_meta":{"origin":1986,"position":2},"title":"Replacing the stage brakes on a 15-630 Specimen stage","author":"Randy","date":"November 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog post describes how to replace the micrometer brakes on a PHI 15-630 specimen stage.","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/remove.jpg?fit=1008%2C756&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/remove.jpg?fit=1008%2C756&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/remove.jpg?fit=1008%2C756&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2727,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/model-290-hot-cold-module-leakage-current\/","url_meta":{"origin":1986,"position":3},"title":"Model 290 Hot\/Cold module leakage current","author":"Randy","date":"February 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The 10-325 specimen stage, which is commonly used on PHI Physical Electronics 5600 through 5800 XPS X-ray photo-electron spectrometer surface analysis systems, is often equipped with the model 290 Hot\/Cold module. The design of the Model 290 Hot\/Cold module incorporates some zirconium oxide ceramics to electrically and thermally isolate the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"New ceramics installed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/new-ceramics-installed.jpg?fit=756%2C756&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/new-ceramics-installed.jpg?fit=756%2C756&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/new-ceramics-installed.jpg?fit=756%2C756&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":371,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/faraday-cup-procedure-to-align-ion-beam-current\/","url_meta":{"origin":1986,"position":4},"title":"Faraday cup procedure to align ion beam current","author":"Randy","date":"March 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Using Ta2O5 or SiO2 works well for aligning an ion beam to the focal point of an X-ray photoelectron or scanning Auger electron spectrometer. But, in order to optimize the ion beam focus at larger beam sizes, a Faraday cup is required. The Faraday cup used on many Physical Electronics\/PHI\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ion Sources"","block_context":{"text":"Ion Sources","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/ion-sources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"faraday cup","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/faraday-cup-254x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1794,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/obsolete-phi-units\/","url_meta":{"origin":1986,"position":5},"title":"Obsolete PHI units","author":"Randy","date":"July 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Obsolete PHI units As many of you may know, RBD Instruments has been providing repair services and parts for old Physical Electronics (PHI) surface analysis systems and components for over 26 years. In fact, some of the electronic and optic units that we work on are over 45 years old!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/miscellaneous\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/surface-analysis.png?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3955,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986\/revisions\/3955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}