Hiden’s RGA System for Process Monitoring: HMT

The Hiden HMT quadrupole mass spectrometer is a one-of-a-kind dual-mode RGA device that can operate at pressures as high as 5×10^-3 mbar without the use of differential pumping. A carefully constructed ion source/quadrupole filter pair and software that corrects for abundance non-linearity are used to operate at this pressure.

The HMT is suited for process monitoring applications thanks to its unique high-pressure specification.

Applications

Thin-film optical covering

ALD/MOCVD/CVD

Residual gas analysis

Near atmospheric XPS, APXPS

Vacuum processing

Overview

The HMT is used for vacuum process analysis and residual gas analysis, and it is important for process operating condition checks as well as in-process analysis for identifying unexpected pollutants. In addition, the HMT system can operate in RGA mode, just like a regular quadrupole RGA.

Partial pressure sensitivity in the 10^-13 mbar range is achieved using dual Faraday/electron multiplier detectors. CVD, etching, PECVDand PVD are examples of processes that can be monitored. In short, HMT is a troubleshooting and monitoring RGA tool for processes.

Features

RGA mode for high sensitivity operation at P < 10^-4 mbar (minimum noticeable partial pressure 2 × 10^-11 mbar)

HMT mode for a high-pressure operation to 5×10^-3 mbar (minimum noticeable partial pressure 5 × 10^-8 mbar)

100 amu mass range, Remote (PC) Control interface through MASsoft Professional PC software

Quick access, mixed-mode scanning Trend and Analog in several windows for example

Data export capacity to ASCII format and all Windows devices

Stability (less than ±1% height variation over 24 hours)

Dynamic Data Exchange facility for real-time data transfer to other DDE client well-suited Windows™ applications, for example, Excel, SPC-IV statistical process control software.

The cursor for peak height recognition under mouse control

Real time background subtract, automatic mass scale alignment

MASsoft software control through RS232, USBor multiple systems through Ethernet LAN

Instantaneous live time display of graphical and tabular trend analysis data

Dynamic Data Exchange facility for real-time data transfer to other DDE client well-suited Windows™ applications, for example, Excel, SPC-IV statistical process control software.