Gas injection system for energetic-beam instruments
AssigneeOmniprobe, Inc.
InventorsRocky Kruger, Aaron Smith, Cheryl Hartfield
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gas injection system for an energetic-beam instrument having a vacuum chamber. The system has a cartridge containing a chemical serving as a source for an output gas to be delivered into the vacuum chamber. The cartridge has a reservoir containing the chemical, which rises to a fill line having a level defined by an amount of the chemical present in the reservoir at a given time. An outlet from the reservoir is coupled to an output passage through an outlet valve and configured so that when the system is tilted the outlet remains above the level of the fill line. Embodiments include isolation valves allowing the cartridge to be disconnected without destroying system vacuum.
Claims29
A gas injection system for an energetic-beam instrument having a vacuum chamber, the gas injection system comprising:
- a cartridge capable of containing a chemical serving as a source for an output gas to be delivered into the vacuum chamber;
- a recognition device for reading information about the cartridge;
- and
- an identification device attached to the cartridge and having coded information regarding one or more characteristics of the cartridge;
- the identification device communicably connected to the recognition device, such that the identification device supplies the coded information to the recognition device;
- and;
- a controller communicably connected to the recognition device, the controller configured such that it is capable of varying a deposition parameter of the gas injection system, whereby operation of the gas injection system may be controlled in response to the coded information.
A gas injection system for an energetic-beam instrument having a vacuum chamber, the gas injection system comprising:
- a chassis mounted to the vacuum chamber;
- a removable cartridge supported upon the chassis and having an interior and an exterior, and capable of containing a chemical serving as a source for an output gas, the removable cartridge comprising an output passage through which the output gas may flow from the interior to the exterior of the cartridge;
- a delivery path having a conductance and connecting the output passage of the removable cartridge to the vacuum chamber, through which the output gas is delivered into the vacuum chamber;
- and
- an isolation valve in the delivery path between the cartridge and the vacuum chamber, whereby the cartridge may be removed while the vacuum chamber remains under vacuum when the isolation valve is closed.
A method of supplying a gas to a vacuum chamber, the method comprising:
- providing a cartridge enclosing a source of a gas, where the cartridge has at least one delivery path having a conductance and selectively openable to the vacuum chamber;
- removably connecting the cartridge to the vacuum chamber while keeping the chamber under vacuum;
- identifying one or more characteristics of the cartridge automatically;
- and
- controlling a flow of the gas from the cartridge into the vacuum chamber according to the identified characteristics of the cartridge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.