INFICON MDC-360 Thin Film Deposition Controller - Manual (Page 11)

MDC-360 DEPOSITION CONTROLLER
1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION
1.1 PURPOSE
The MDC-360 provides both automatic control of single or multi-layer film
deposition in either a production or development environment and improved
predictability and repeatability of deposited film characteristics through
dependable digital control of the deposition process. It runs unattended in the
fully automatic mode and provides such features as run completion in the event of
crystal failure, and extensive internal checking. Performance limits and the abort
feature can be set by the user.
1.2 FEATURES
The MDC-360 incorporates numerous features which are economically justifiable
as a result of rapid advances in semiconductor technology and the advent of low
cost microprocessors.
1.2.1 EXTENSIVE PROGRAM STORAGE
The MDC-360 is capable of storing up to 99 processes, 999 layer definitions and
32 complete material definitions. Once a program is entered it will be maintained
in memory for a minimum of 5 years without external power.
1.2.2 DYNAMIC MEASUREMENT UPDATE RATE
Measurement is dynamically adjusted from 0.5 to 10 Hz for optimum resolution
and control.
1.2.3 SUPERIOR GRAPHICS DISPLAY
The MDC-360 features a 256x64 pixel LCD graphics display allowing real time
graphing of important process information such as rate, rate deviation, thickness
and power.
1.2.4 PROGRAM SECURITY
To assure the integrity of stored programs, the MDC-360 incorporates edit
passwords to guard against unauthorized program changes.
1.2.5 DESIGNED FOR UNATTENDED OPERATION
The MDC-360 has been designed for truly automatic operation and toward this
end incorporates extensive internal monitoring and overriding abort circuitry to
minimize the possibility of damage in the event of a failure or other problem in
the total deposition system. In addition there are attention, alert and alarm signals
with adjustable volume for trouble and routine operator call.
1.2.6 FAIL SAFE ABORTS
In the event of an MDC-360 failure, as evidenced by unsatisfactory internal
checks, the MDC-360 will abort the process and shut off all outputs. In addition
to the internal checks, the MDC-360 also provides user enabled aborts on
excessive rate control error or crystal failure.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION 1-1