REV 1. Quick Start Guide. MBE Control Solutions

Transcription

1 Quick Start Guide MBE Control Solutions

2 AMBER Setup AMBER is usually sold preinstalled on a Windows 7-64 Workstation. A Self installation guide and installation software is available from MBE Control Solutions: AMBER Installation DVD AMBER Installation Instructions P/N

3 AMBER Basics AMBER Directory Structure Configuration Folder Location of saved configuration files Filename extension is.cfg Instruments Location of AMBER Instrument drivers Driver extension is.vi Log Files Location of AMBER logs Plug-ins Location of AMBER software Plug-ins Recipes Location for AMBER Recipe Files

4 Starting AMBER AMBER Icon: AMBER can be started by Clicking on the AMBER Icon in the Windows Taskbar Double clicking on the AMBER Icon on the Desktop Double clicking on the AMBER Icon in the C:\AMBER\ directory

5 AMBER Main Window Menu Bar Manual Shutter Control Buttons Tab Bar Tab Display

6 AMBER Menu Bar Operate Save Configuration Load Configuration Change Growth Rate Compile Recipe Run Recipe Pause Recipe Pause Recipe (shutters open) Stop Recipe Stop Recipe (shutters open) Save/Load Configuration Allows the AMBER settings to be saved or loaded. It is helpful to save configurations after changing settings as a backup. Recipe Commands Allows user to do specified action without going to the Recipe Tab Show Errors About Amber Quit Amber Displays Error Log Displays Program Information Quits AMBER; (will offer option of saving current configuration)

7 AMBER Menu Bar Configure General Shutters Materials Display Temperatures Instruments Plugins Show Config Data Allows user to open configuration window for specified AMBER functionality. This is how the program is configured for each individual system. Displays advanced parameters that can be used for troubleshooting. Please consult MBE Control Solutions for more information.

8 Configure General Settings Setup screen for basic AMBER Parameters. Useful for selecting background image, data update periods, and data acquisition priority. Parameter List Parameter Info PCI-6601 ID Hardware List

9 Configure Shutters Setup screen for AMBER Shutters. Add shutters in order of physical connection to shutter controller in shutter list. Move and change shutter display characteristics with orientation and display controls. Display is representation of shutter display graphic on the main tab. Display Graphic Shutter List Shutter List Configuration Controls Shutter Orientation Configuration Controls Shutter Display Configuration Controls

10 Configure - Shutters There are 24 shutter channels available in AMBER. The list box shows what is assigned to each of the shutter channels. For each channel, the relevant information appears below the list box. The following information can be set: Shutter Name Create a short name for the shutter with no spaces. Examples: As, Ga, In, CBr4, Pyro, VP, Al_1, In2, P, N2. The name should be short enough to fit inside the indicator (4 letters or less) Visibility Is the shutter visible. To control manually, the shutter must be visible. Open During Pause? When a recipe is paused while running, the shutters are closed and deposition is stopped. To automatically keep a shutter open during the pause (such as the As shutter when growing GaAs or the Pyrometer viewport shutter) select this box.

11 Configure - Shutters Size Size of the indicator. X position, Y position Co-ordinates of the indicator. The circular display to the right is an optional control to help you position the shutters in circular patterns. Click on the position in the small display and the currently selected shutter will move the corresponding position in the main display. The number of shutters and radius of a circular pattern can be selected. The Start at Top checkbox sets the phase. Color when closed and when open Simply click on the color box to set the color of the control of each individual control when opened and closed. Click on the shutters indicators to preview how it will look.

12 Configure Materials Setup screen for AMBER Materials add AMBER materials and associate shutters with materials for AMBER recipes. Materials List Shutters Selection Graphic Material List Configuration Controls Rates List Material Configuration Controls

13 Configure - Materials Materials are shutter combinations for growing a particular material. A material must be created for each combination of shutters. This is usually the most time consuming step in the configuration and must be performed after the shutters are defined. A complicated system may have 20 or more different materials. Create a unique name for each material with no spaces and without using any of the forbidden characters ( = : ;., ) ( [ ] { } & % ). Typical names include: GaAs, ngaas, InP, AlGaAs, AlGaAs2, AlGaAs_Si, etc. The name does not need to have any relationship to the names of the shutters. For each material, a growth rate must be associated with that material. To select a rate that has already been defined, double-click the desired rate. To create a new rate, type it in the box. The rate list may not update until a different material has been selected. Multiple materials may have the same rate. For example, GaAs and Si doped GaAs both have effectively the same rate. For each material, click the shutters that should be opened when that material is called.

14 Configure - Display Setup screen for AMBER Main Display. After Shutters, Temperatures, and Instruments are created, they can be positioned on the Main Display to create a representation of the system. Indicator Selection List Indicator List Controls Indicator Position & Appearance Controls Shutter Position Controls Main Screen Display Graphic

15 Configure - Display This is where the appearance of the Main tab is configured. Any of the information displayed here is also displayed in the lists on the Instruments tab. Typically, the most important values such as chamber pressure or substrate temperature can be displayed here. The background image that appears across the space is set in the General Settings and must be a JPEG file that is pixels. Set the image before configuring the display. Add a new item to the display and create a label. The font size, color and background color of the indicator can be set. To preview how it will look, enter some text into the indicator. Set the size and position. USEFUL TIP: To quickly position the current indicator, hold down the CTRL key and click at the desired location. The control will move to that location. Select the information that should be displayed in the indicator. Any value (pressure, temperature, output power, etc.) that is being monitored by AMBER can be displayed. To add text to the display, select Constant and enter the string to display in the indicator.

16 Configure Temperatures Setup screen for AMBER Temperature Loops. Add sources and valves to AMBER. Associate Shutters with sources and valves. Select the temperature parameters to display in the Data Tab. Configure Temperature interface parameters. Temperature Selection List Parameter Display Control Temperature List Control Shutter Selection List Temperature Interface Setup Temperature Label Setup

17 Configure - Temperatures This is where temperature controllers are configured. Create a Label and a Name for each controller. The Label can have spaces and the Name must have no spaces. It is best to keep the names short. Select the parameters to read. If a controller is temporarily disabled, deselect all the parameters so the communications will not be slowed down by repeated attempts to read a controller that is turned off or otherwise disabled. Enter the configuration parameters in the list at the right. If the arrow to the right of the text field is not grayed out, click it to pull down a list of choices. Associating a shutter with a particular Temperature is optional.

18 Configure - Instruments Setup screen for AMBER Instruments. Add Pressure Gauges, Temperature Monitors, Pyrometers, and other instruments to AMBER. Drivers located in C:\AMBER\Instruments will be displayed for selection. Instrument List Control Instrument Selection List Instrument Label Setup Instrument Interface Setup Instrument Driver List Parameter Dislpay List Instrument Graphic

19 Configure - Instruments The instruments are where devices such as pressure gauges, pyrometers, and other sensors are configured here. The available instruments are determined by the drivers that have been placed in the C:\AMBER\Instruments directory. For each driver there is a *.vi file and possibly a *.llb file. To create new instrument drivers a copy of LabVIEW is required. The instrument drivers have a structure that can be copied from a template provided by MBE Control Solutions. Each instrument has different parameters that must be configured. These appear at the right. Clicking the desired instrument in the Available Instruments list will bring up the parameters that must be configured. Enter the configuration parameters in the list at the right. If the arrow to the right of the text field is not grayed out, click it to pull down a list of choices. The Low Limit and High Limit enable a color change in the instrument indicator. If the measured value is in the range, the color appears green. It turns red when the value is outside the range. If the fields are left blank, the value will always appear as black text on a white background.

20 Configure - Plugins Setup screen for AMBER Plugins. Extend AMBER s capabilities with special plugins. Drivers located in C:\AMBER\Plug-ins will be displayed for selection. Plugin List Control Plugin Configuraton Setup Plugin Selection List Plugin Driver List Plugin Position Setup

21 Configure Plug-ins An extremely powerful feature of AMBER is that it allows for modular software components to provide additional functionality. These plug-in modules are configured here. Plug-ins consist of three files a *.vi, a *.llb, and a *.txt file that are all placed in C:\AMBER\Plug-ins. To create new plug ins, a copy of LabVIEW is required. The instrument drivers have a structure that can be copied from a template provided by MBE Control Solutions. Plug-ins created in a different programming environment (C, C++, Visual Basic) run in a separate floating window and are not configured in Plug-In setup. For this reason, LabVIEW is the preferred environment for plug-in development. Configuration is similar to instrument configuration with the addition of Position. There are 4 plug-in slots. Each plug in must be dedicated to its own slot number 1, 2, 3 or 4.

22 AMBER Tab Bar Click on Tab to go to screen System and Growth Info Display Trend Charts Graphical Data Info Recipe Editor and Growth Graph System Log Display Data Tabulated Data Info Recipe and Growth Step Info Plug-in Display Screens

23 AMBER Main Tab Recipe And Growth Info Growth Rate Table System Display Indicator Display Shutter Button Main Tab is a user defined graphical representation of the system. Recipe information is displayed while growth is running. Growth table shows current growth rates.

24 AMBER Data Tab Tabulated Temperature Chart Writeable Cell Tabulated Instruments Chart Tabulated User Variable Chart Data Tab is a tabulated representation of system variables. Clicking on writable cells allows those parameters to be written to the instrument. Instruments with writeable parameters can also be controlled in a similar fashion.

25 Live/Histor ical Data Select Log File Select AMBER Trend Charts Tab Time Auto Scale Select Time Scale Select Pressure Legend Control Pressure Graph Temperature Legend Control Temperature Graph Trend Charts Tab is a graphical representation of system variables. Legends allow selection of parameters, line color, style and Y axis. Calendar allows selection of historical data. Time Scale select allows quick adjustment of horizontal axis.

26 AMBER Trend Charts Tab Load/Save Legend Enable Color Line Style Parameter Select Axis Select Parameter Value Legend control allows the configuration of each plot. Choose to enable/disable a parameter. Select plot color, line style, and vertical axis. The drop down list allows the selection of the parameter to plot.

27 AMBER Trend Charts Tab Left Axis Right Axis Scale (Min Max) Autoscale Graph Format Axes Zoom Pan Tool Right Axis Various controls allow the graph display to be adjusted. The slider allows the minimum and maximum values of the left axis to be set. Autoscale automatically sets the value range. Format axes brings up the axis configuration window. The zoom and pan tool allows zooming and panning with the use of the mouse.

28 AMBER Trend Charts Tab Click on arrows to change month. Click on date to select log file to display. Green days indicate log file is available Click OK to load data Historical data can be viewed to see previous collected data. Click on the calendar to display the select log file window. Green boxes indicate available data. Click OK to load data. Click cancel to close screen without loading data.

29 AMBER Current Recipe Tab Recipe Display Current Step Current Recipe Tab displays the current recipe in memory. While a growth is running the blue line depicts the current step in the recipe.

30 AMBER Recipe Editor Tab Recipe Command Toolbar Recipe Text Editor Recipe Short Cuts Compiled Recipe Information Recipe Editor Tab is where recipes are entered, edited, and compiled. The main window allows text to be entered by typing, double clicking on the short cuts on the left, and pasting from the clipboard. The Command bar allows recipes to be loaded, saved, printed, and compiled.

31 AMBER Recipe Editor Tab Save Recipe Print Recipe Compile Recipe Stop Recipe Compile Return To Main Tab Recipe Filename Load Recipe Recipe Compilation Information The Recipe Command Bar has buttons to load, save, print, and compile recipes. Recipes must be compiled before they can be run in AMBER. Recipe compilation will report any errors during the compilation. Once the compilation is complete the Done indicator will turn green. AMBER Recipe Commands are available on the MBE Control Solutions Website.

32 AMBER Recipe Editor Tab Recipe Growth Duration Calculated Growth Thickness Graphical Layer Structure Save Image Buttons Once a recipe has been compiled, the growth time, thickness and structure will be calculated by AMBER.

33 AMBER Plug-ins Tab Plug-in 1 Display Plug-in 2 Display Plug-in 3 Display Plug-in 4 Display The Plug-in tab displays up to four plugins.

34 AMBER System Log Tab Manual Log Entry Window Log Display Window The System Log Tab displays the latest entries in the system log. Various events are tracked and logged automatically by AMBER. The manual entry window allows user defined information to be entered into the log.