INFICON MDC-360C Thin Film Deposition Controller - Manual (Page 73)

MDC-360C DEPOSITION CONTROLLER
PROGRAMMING AND CONTROLLER SETUP 4-33
Inputs - Input conditions are represented by the user defined programmable
inputs. A condition is either true or false depending on the state of the input.
Input conditions are used to indicate the state of something external to the MDC-
360C. For example, you may want to program the MDC-360C to wait for a
certain pressure 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 MDC-360C 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 (1-16) - 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-360C 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 MDC-360C will continually reset timer #1 (set to zero)