Vacuum News

The new LPP1 00 electrostatic plasma probe is considered an ideal tool for plasma process transfer and can be used, even by untrained operators, to monitor plasma conditions directly, thus ensuring optimum performance of the semiconductor process.

Mass spectrometry for plasma process end-point detection. VG Quadrupoles, in conjunction with the University of Bristol, has developed and demonstrated the simple and effective use of mass spectrometry for plasma process end-point detection.

]-he improved technique, using VG's Micromass PC, produces data which are easy to interpret--it thus becomes an alternative or complementary technique to the traditional optical emission method which often produces more complex spectra.

The Micromass PC displays end-points directly on the integral VDU, with update times of typically less than 1 s for each mass peak monitored. The advantage of mass spectrometry over optical methods is that it can also yield spatial information within the plasma chamber.

N e w software package from VG Quadrupoles. VG Quadrupoles has introduced a new 'Quasar' software package for its Micromass PC and Sensorlab RGA instruments. The new, easy-to- use software has been developed to improve the analytical capability of VG's instruments and enhance their flexibility in production environments.

New Quasar will be supplied as standard with all new instruments but existing Micromass PC/Sensorlab users can purchase the updated Quasar software at a nominal cost.

VG Sensorlab gas analyser.

The new Quasar release strengthens the position of the Micromass PC and Sensorlab as market leaders. Additional features include user- programmable defaults to save setting-up time; simultaneous data storage/data review; a unique VG logarithmic library; a comparison mode to compare ideal conditions with today's generated data and a useful directory for quick recall of stored data. Quasar is also compatible with VG's 'Overlap' instrument which simultaneously logs data from up to four analyser heads.

New Sensorlab gas analyser for industry and academic research. The new Sensorlab gas analyser, introduced by VG Quadrupoles will appeal to academic researchers and industry alike. The Sensorlab instrument is a low-cost quadrupole mass spectrometer controlled by an IBM PC or PC-compatible computer--a range of analysers and ion sources plus menu-driven software helps users to measure gases in various industrial processes and research applications.

Sensorlab is a highly functional unit with fast, flexible menu-driven software to make the setting-up procedure as simple and as quick as possible. However, unlike dedicated microprocessor instruments, Sensorlab has the necessary data storage and computing capability for post-data manipulation that modern research and quality control- checks demand.

The full range of analysers and ion sources available for this gas analyser means that it can be set up to suit the desired application, for example, uhv, industrial vacuum, semiconductor process or analytical gas monitoring.

Further information from:

Adrian Holley VG Quadrupoles Ltd

Aston Way Middlewich

Cheshire CWl 0 0HS Tel 060 6844777 Fax 060 6842399

N e w f ie ld emission source scanning t ransmiss ion e lec t ron microscope f rom VG Mic roscopes A new, field emission source scanning transmission electron microscope has been developed by VG Microscopes for high resolution imaging applications. The instrument, known as the HBS01UX, incorporates a new design of objective lens with low aberration coefficients and uses a new, high angle annular detector to produce images with a point resolution of 0.22 nm at 100 kV.

A central feature of this new imaging technique is that the images contain strong atomic number contrast so that chemical changes at interfaces, for example, are clearly visible at atomic resolution. Additional features are the easy interpretation of the images compared with conventional HREM techniques and the fact that the method yields atomic resolution images at lower voltages than an equivalent CTEM so that beam damage is minimised.

Careful design of the new objective lens has enabled a high performance X-ray microanalysis capability to be retained, thus making the HB501 UX a major innovation in the field of electron microscopy.

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