INFICON MDC-370 Thin Film Deposition Controller - Manual (Page 64)

MDC-370 DEPOSITION CONTROLLER
before starting a deposit. In this case you would create an input called something
like "At Pressure" and you would connect this input to a pressure setpoint output
of a vacuum gage. Next, you would create a Hold In State action that would
cause the 370 to hold in a state prior to deposit until the "At Pressure" input goes
true.
Outputs - Output conditions are represented by the user defined programmable
outputs. A condition is either true or false depending on the state of the output's
total condition string.
Process - The process condition is evaluated true whenever the selected process is
the current process.
Material - The material condition is evaluated true whenever the selected
material is the current material.
Source (1-6) - The source condition is evaluated true whenever the current source
equals the specified source.
Pocket (1-8) - The pocket condition is evaluated true whenever the current pocket
equals the specified pocket.
Softnode (1-8) - Each Softnode defaults to false but can be set to true by a "Set
Soft Node" Action. Softnodes allow the user to link many action condition
strings together to trigger another action or output.
Sensor (1-6) - The sensor condition is evaluated true whenever the current sensor
equals the specified sensor.
SnsrXtal(1-6,1-8) - The Sensor/Xtal condition is evaluated true whenever the
specified crystal of the specified sensor is active. The leftmost digit is the sensor#
and the rightmost digit is the crystal#.
Layer (1-999) - The layer condition is evaluated true whenever the current layer#
equals the specified layer#.
Timer < (1-65,534 seconds) - The MDC-370 has eight internal counters that can
be used as conditions to trigger outputs or actions. The timer condition is
evaluated true whenever the timer's value is less than the value entered in the
timer condition. A timer can be reset to zero using a Start Timer Action. Once
reset, a timer will count up to its maximum value and stay there until it is reset
again. Timers are typically used to trigger an output for a set amount of time after
a certain event or state has occurred. For example, if you wanted to turn on an ion
gun for the first 3 minutes of deposition, you would first create an output called
"Ion Gun Power" with the condition "!Timer1<1&Timer1<181". This condition
says that this output will be true whenever timer1 is greater than 1 and less than
181 seconds. The next step is to create an action to reset the timer in the state
before deposit. Select the "Start Timer #1" action and enter the conditions
"Predeposit Hold". The 370 will continually reset timer #1 (set to zero) while it is
in the Predeposit Hold state then one second after it enters the deposit state, the
"Ion Gun Power" output will go true for 180 seconds or three minutes.
PROGRAMMING AND CONTROLLER SETUP 4-32