On Jun 10, 2012, at 9:10 PM, “Jian-Guo Zheng” <jzheng@calit2.uci.edu> wrote to FEI engineer:
Hi, John:
Magellan SEM had problems during my vacation. Last Sunday, I noticed that no electron beam was observed at 1-2kV and SEM images were poor under other kVs. There was no way to do basic alignment. Last week, some progresses were made, but users were still experiencing difficulties. I checked the SEM yesterday (Saturday) and today. Here is the summary:
The SEM works well under following conditions: 10kV-30kV for field free lens It has problems under: 10kV-30kV for immersion lens (image focus drifting), 3-5kV for field free lens and immersion lens (bad lens alignment). 1-2kV for poor images.
I would appreciate it if you could help solve the problems as soon as possible. It is fine if you have to use the reserved slots this week.
Please let me know if I may help.
Thanks,
Jian-Guo
The SEM was fully tested. It is working very well. Last long downtime occured due to two major reasons: a) a grounding piece on the sample stage was bent by a user, and b) some users did not follow sample preparation procedure. Please make sure that you blast your sample in the hood with compressed N2 for 5 seconds and check the sample under optical microscope before loading. You must discuss how to prepare magnetic sample with me before using it in the SEM.
FEI maintenance service was done by 5pm today. I will test it tomorrow, but the Magellan is up now and you may use it tonight.
FEI service supervisor Darin Radall called me this morning. He is going to visit our lab with an engineer tomorrow. If the problem is not solved, the 2nd engineer will fly in on Wed. If the problem is still not solved, a more experienced engineer will come on Thursday.
Test results (June 16): SEM alignment at all kVs are fine. With immersion lens, image focus may change. You may use field free lens to record SEM image. The performance is similar to Quanta 3D.
Because the SEM problem was not solved for two weeks, FEI service manager was informed. He will contact me on Monday with a plan to action.
SEM testing results: SEM alignment at all kVs are fine. Images may drift at some conditions. Using drift correction may help. Please contact Matt or me for imaging with drift correction. With immersion lens, image focus may change. FEI engineer will be on campus on Fri (June 15) for maintentance.
FEI engineer will be on campus to do maintenance on Fri (June 15). If there is any conflict with the maintenance, please reschedule your sessions. Thanks,Jian-Guo
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 9:19 AM
To: ‘Aguilon, John’; ‘Pouv, Vorng’
Cc: Matthew Sullivan; Matt Law
Subject: FW: Magellan
Hi, John:
After you aligned the Magellen yesterday (June 11), I did not have an opportunity to test it. I just checked the login sheet and saw four users who used last night. I did see some improvement at 5kV late afternoon yesterday (when a user was using it), but the record indicates that two users had some problems, for example, the focusing drift problem remains when immersion lens was used.
Please help solve the problem as soon as possible.
The lens bottom has some particles. Can you clean the lens?
Thanks,
Jian-Guo