Image Credits: XEI Scientific Inc.
XEI Scientific Inc. announces the release of the Evactron® E50 at the Microscopy and Microanalysis 2017 meeting in St. Louis, MO. The Evactron E50 provides a new approach to plasma cleaning designed for all makes and models of SEMs and FIBs.
The Evactron E50 Hollow Cathode Remote Plasma Source from XEI Scientific uses up to 50 watts to generate flowing afterglow cleaning with air, removing carbon compounds from vacuum chambers operating with turbomolecular pumps. The unique new system has instant ignition from any vacuum level. Compact and powerful, it uses a 50 watt hollow cathode electrode to produce plasma. Most commercially available remote plasma sources have been designed for semiconductor equipment and thus are usually derated for the plasma cleaning of other vacuum systems. Evactron systems are specifically designed to clean electron microscopes safely. This high rate process cleans in minutes, removing carbon acquired during exposure to ambient air, system assembly, poor vacuum practice, etc. The removal of carbon speeds pumpdown time, improves instrument performance and stops carbon deposition by charged particle beams on optics and other sensitive surfaces.
XEI’s plasma R & D team has designed the E50 system with 50 watt cleaning power, providing fast, reliable high performance cleaning. The critical RF generator and impedance matches are the same units used in XEI’s fully featured Evactron De-Contaminators. Flowing afterglows give high oxygen radical concentrations for fast cleaning due to longer mean free paths in the 2-20 milliTorr region. A fixed input gas flow rate removes the need for pressure gauges and variable gas flow valves and control. A patent has been applied for the unique and reliable plasma radical source. Certification of CE, NRTL, Semi-S2 and RoHS compliance is pending.
The front panel has only one control: an on/off switch that turns on the RF power and gas flow in the chamber to start the cleaning plasma. A bluetooth connection to a tablet may be used to set cleaning time, cycle cleaning, and power levels if needed. To be used the unit needs to be mounted on a vacuum chamber (KF40 or CF 2.75 flanges), vacuum and power applied, and plasma turned on.
XEI has now sold more than 2,600 Evactron systems worldwide, solving contamination problems in many different environments at low and high vacuum including electron microscopes, FIBs and other vacuum sample chambers. Each system comes with a 5 year limited warranty. XEI’s latest innovation, the E50, will be displayed at the 75th Annual Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting being held in St. Louis, MO, from August 6-10, 2017.