The PtPd target wore out this morning. I have a new one on order. In the mean time we are using the iridium target. You won’t be able to tell the difference with the Ir coating.
I do not know what happened this morning. The engineers gave me a suggestion, but it worked before I tried it. I fear that the problem may return. It appears as many diagonal lines at focus. See the attached image.
Let me know if you see anything unusual.
Please do not electropolish on the weekend alone. Also, if you only occasionally use it please do the work during the week in case there is a problem. We want to avoid equipment breakage.
Also, the LN2 pump gets condensation in it and freezes. If it is working right the hose black hose will freeze and the temp will go down pretty quickly. Turn off the pump and come get me to help if the pump isn’t turning.
I’ve put in call for help. I”ll let you know when its back online.
I’ll be out of town tomorrow through Friday. Back in the office Monday, Oct14th. You’ll be able to reach me by phone, text or email.
Liz and Aleister will be here to coat samples or help with SEMs & AFM.
The ESEM is back online now and ready for use.
The ESEM is down with a blown filament. We will have it back online tomorrow morning.
We are increasing the hourly fee for internal use of the S-TEM to $70/hr. This fee will help us offset the service contract cost and is consistent with fees for the same or similar equipment at other universities. The new fee will take effect on October 1st.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
There have been a few problems getting thumbdrives to eject on the FESEM PC. What I did that worked is to make sure that Explorer is not pointing to your data on the FESEM PC, then highlight your USB drive in the list, right click and select Eject.
The monitor failed on the FESEM and I moved one from another lab. Only problem is that it is a wide screen. Images on the monitor appear stretched but the images you save will not be stretched. We will receive a proper replacement tomorrow.