Avantage Release Notes · Avantage Release Notes ... 4828 Fixed random incidences of the ion gun...

Avantage Release Notes

Fixed Version SCR ID Release Notes

Avantage 5.9904

4909 Fixed a potential problem running a XR6 x-ray gun, with a silver anode fitted, on a Escalab instrument. This problem was introduced in version 5.9903.

Avantage 5.9903

4893 Added move to previous anode position functionality.

4900 Fix for adjusting the x-ray spot size of the current experiment node through the optical view on Nexsa instruments.

4907 Removed the 10um and 20um spot sizes from the calculation used to establish the focus for the 400um spot size.

Avantage 5.9901

4889 Added the recording of anode and filament usage in the a file called LifetimeRecords.txt.

4894 Handled non-standard Chungnam National University MXR3-P request.

Avantage 5.989

4879 Fixed V4 valve opening for ISS modes on the Theta Probe

4881 Fixed button redrawing issue which was seen when selecting the simulate option on the experiment setting tab

4882 Ensured that the ISS modes are removed when the ISS option is deselected during an installation.

4884 Fixed Imaging Source Firewire Driver installation. It was corrupted in V5.987 and V5.988 and would always fail to install. Now fixed.

4885 Switched the default start and end values for the UPS He1 Survey Scan default parameters

4886 Improved the automatic scaling for this x-ray dialog controls.

4887 Fix for T274 Optical Link Driver not being installed. This bug was introduced by SCR#4844 so was in Avantage V5.985 to V5.988. Now fixed.

4888 Removed references to the MXR3 in the error strings shared with the MXR7 & MXR3-P.

Avantage 5.988

4873 Fixed "Type Mismatch" error when displaying a data space.

4874 Fixed the Gun Shutdown experiment object that was failing to ramp down the FG01 flood gun.

Avantage 5.987

4859 Added "X-Ray water flow rate sensor fitted (Cynergy3 UF08B)" as a selected option for Nexsa and K-Alpha-KANxxxx instruments.This sensor will provide a more robust check on the flow of water to the X-Ray Source compared to the old digital OK/Not OK sensor.

4861 Added support for an x-ray filament maximum current of below 1.5A.

4862 Reduced the targeted sample current for the ISS modes on the MAGCIS Cluster Source.

4870 Added support for UV Source (T240 PSU) to K-Alpha KANxxxx. This is for backwards compatibility only.

Avantage 5.986

4853 Added test for faulty water flow switch on Nexsa and K-Alpha KAN instruments

Avantage 5.985

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4842 Fix for Escalab Xi/Xi+ and Theta Probe Spectrometer comms being unreliable on systems using T234 or T208 Spectrometer crate module + put back the ability to pull out a single module in the spectrometer without stopping comms to the other modules in the crate. This bug was introduced in V5.979

4844 Updated version of FTDI driver V2.12.18 for virtual COM ports. This possibly fixes blue screen situations on Windows 10, but this has not been seen on all Windows 10 PCs.

4845 Helium line flush for K-Alpha and Nexsa instruments from 3 cycles to 10 cycles. Also fix to show Helium line flush button in vacuum diagnostics for systems with ISS, but no UV Source

4846 Corrected issue on the K-Alpha KAN instrument where the counts were displayed as a fraction of one count, rather than the full amount.

4848 Hid the moveable anode controls when they are inappropriate.

4850 Enhanced the short circuit detection.

4851 Stopped the EX06 filament maxiamum ever going to 4 amps.

Avantage 5.984

4835 Raman status indicator added to Avantage Status Bar. Indicates if the laser is ON or Off and if there is comms to OMNIC and IXR unit

4836 Sample holder image can now be cropped in platter view.

4839 Stopped the occasional instance of the comm port coordinator crashing as Avantage starts.

4840 Fix for Span and Offset failing on newer K-Alpha and Nexsa instruments. Allowed span range extended

Avantage 5.983

4815 SnapMap can now handle a tilted sample. When a tilt holder is loaded then the "Apply Tilt Adjust" check box is enabled on SnapMap experiment object and in Optical View. The Z and Y positions are adjusted to cope with the current angle of the holder.

4819 Fixed the failure to apply 40 volts to the extractor during the degas routine.

4820 Added code to hide the controls to calculate the ISS source energy unless a Nexsa with iss.

4821 Fix for spectrometer ADC read back voltages always being zero when using a T227 spectrometer on a Nexsa instrument. The ADC readbacks were OK when T227 was used on a K-Alpha system.

4822 Reduced the default MXR7 filament current to 1.5 amps and made the filament controllable from the details page.

4828 Fixed random incidences of the ion gun server losing control of the ion gun.

4830 Stopped the XR6 gun closing down during the power correction process.

4831 Added fix for depth profiling with x-ray gun blanking selected.

Avantage 5.982

4813 Made changes to the UV Source experiment object so that selected sample block was not altered.

4814 Lowered the maximum filament current used during an Xray (MX07) degas.

4818 Hide the sample bias status light on a Theta Probe.

Avantage 5.981

4675 Manual peak ID list box By range works the same way as for By element. It is possible to select elements one by one now.

4676 A new popup menu Select All / Unselect All has been created for the Manual peak ID list box to be able to select / unselect all elements at once.

4804 Interface Width Calculator added to Image Line Band Scan processing method.



4806 Survey spectra for REELS/ISS/UPS can now be inserted from the Multi-Spectrum insert dialog. The source object that is being 'inserted into' is detected and this determines which survey spectra it inserts

4812 Fix for bug stopping "Energy Scale Calibration" being run in K-Alpha Calibration tool. This only happened if Energy Scale Calibration had never been run succesfully. Bug introduced in Avantage V5.980

Avantage 5.980

4618 Device Search now also finds DFG PRO Imaging Source USB Video Converter

4795 New base K-Alpha type called "K-Alpha with serial numbers starting KANxxxx" added to the installation. The new 'base K-Alpha' is built on the Nexsa bench with electronics common between the two instruments.

4797 Fix for T250 FPGA V 0xC3. Spurious peaks could be detected on background energy regions when doing snapshot acquisitions with short dwell times e.g. 1000 snapshots with 1 mesc dwell

Avantage 5.979

4746 Ion Gun parameters are now saved in VGD file and viewable in (i) Infromation Display

4792 Fix for video imaging problems on Dell Optiplex 5050 and 7050 PCs. Installs Processor Idle Manager from Imaging Source to override 'C States' energy saving feature of Intel processors. The 'C States' feature causes the video to become jerky as frames are being dropped. The Processor Idle Manager stops this feature being engaged on PCs connected to Imaging Source cameras. The C States can be disabled through BIOS setting as well.

4793 Fix for failure to display the performance specifications in the K-Alpha Calibration utility. This bug was introduced in V5.978.

4794 Fix for K-Alpha entry lock pump down failing due to analysis gauge errors and leaving Entry Lock Isolation Valve V5 closed even though entry turbo did get to speed.

Avantage 5.978

4788 Re-instated the 'Degas All Guns' option in the setup tool.

4790 Button for "Cladding lights" erroneously being displayed in vacuum diagnostics, miscellaneous tab, on older K-Alpha systems.

Avantage 5.977

4781 Driver for "Imaging Source usb2 Pro" PAL to USB converter not working on latest Windows 10. Fixed with new version of driver V1.1.1.7

4782 Updated driver for Point Electronic Diss 5 SEM imaging box. Needed for it to work with new PCs running Windows 10

4783 Fix for sample transfer on K-Alpha not always picking up the fact that the stage datum had failed. It was carrying on with the transfer despite an error being logged. Explicit datum error messages added for X/Y and Z axes.

4784 Additional checks for operation of water flow readback have now been added for X-ray guns on systems with Baldor PLC control. This applies to Xr6, XR4, MXR1 on Escalab 250Xi, Escalab Xi+, Theta Probe (since 2013).

Before the X-rays are switched on, the water readback is checked to ensure it shows the water is off. After the x-rays are switched on the usual check is made that the water readback is now on. This confirms the correct operation of the water readback monitor.

If the operation is incorrect and the water readback is already on, an error will be reported and recorded in the T352 Monitored Values log file.

Avantage 5.976



4776 Fix for "PLC Controller Error" error code 48 being generated everytime the V7 leak valve was opened. This bug was introduced in V5.974 and would affect only older K-Alphas that have 2 x PLCs (and not 3)

4778 Fix to allow Escalab 250 Xi/Xi+ and Theta Probes MK II to do up to 50 compucentric rotations per depth profile level

4779 Fixed the sample current ranging error seen when T225 ion gun board is ran with Avantage 5.925 or later.

Avantage 5.975

4774 Fix for K-Alpha Performance Spec, on K-Alpha Calibration utility, locking up. This bug was introduced in V5.973.

Avantage 5.974

4770 Fix for registering the default transmission functions on a K-Alpha/K-Alpha+ systems. Bug introduced in release V5.968. Only affects new instruments, not upgrades where we a keeping the current settings.

Avantage 5.973

4763 Fix for XPS knowledge viewer not working. It was broken on Avantage V5.971

Avantage 5.972

4758 Support for the following instrument types is removed when running under Windows 10: -MICROLAB 310MICROLAB 350Auger Component (FEI)Alpha110CLAM4VG100AXTheta300 MKITheta300 MKIITheta300iTheta300XTheta300XT

4759 Fix for XPS images being rubbish after upgrading the 2D detector from T232 to T250 on ESCALAB 250 Xi/Xi+ systems. The registry entries for the size of the image needed to be updated

Avantage 5.971

4755 Escalab Xi / Theta Probe Vacuum PLC Details dialog was not always brought to front - now fixed

Avantage 5.970

4756 Fix for T250 Detector electronics failing to calibrate on a Theta Probe. Fixed in FPGA version 0xC2

4757 Fix for detector electronics failing to calibrate on T226 and T232

Avantage 5.969

4752 Updated firmware for T208/T226/T227/T232/T233/T243a/T234b and T237 to fix issues with device driver. This issue was introduced in Avantage V5.968 (drivers version V3.0.0.5).Device driver version for the above devices is now V3.0.0.6.These devices will need to be power cycled in order to pick up new firmware.Issues which will be fixed.1. T233 continuously appearing/disappearing when Avantage not running.2. T237. Video in optical view going black or blue after a few seconds of operation.

Avantage 5.968

4745 Support for Windows 10 added for all instrument types in production. Older instruments need further validation

4749 Adjusted default lens mode for "Hybrid Ag" and "Electrostatic Ag" on Escalab Xi



4750 Change the X-Ray Spotter light on refreshed Theta Probes to be used as the 2nd Analysis Chamber light.

Avantage 5.967

4736 Added ‘Mono 000µm mode’ which holds the stand-by conditions.

4737 W4f5 BE changed from 34eV to 33.67eV to ensure more accurate doublet separation 2.17eV for Add Doublet for peak Fitting. Change made in QuantLibrary01.mdb

4738 Microlab systems. Fix for drop off in spectra at high KE values. This was due to the L1 brick ramping to 9999.9V and not any higher. This bug was present in all previous releases of V5 Avantage, but not V4 or before.

4740 Fix for Theta Probe vacuum diagnostics throwing an exception if the Raman System Option was not selected. Bug introduced in Avantage V5.966

Avantage 5.966

4709 SnapMaps now allow multiple snaps. The data is saved as a rolling average in count per second. SnapMaps can now be put under multi-phase depth profiles and have varying number of snaps in different phases.

4714 'Disable TSP' button added to K-Alpha/K-Alpha+ TSP diagnostics page. This is compatible with all K-Alpha systems. It will need the lastest PLC code installing to work.

4725 Fix for Snap Maps sometimes failing with ACQ-08011 when run from the experiment tree. The wrong stage speed was being saved in the VGX file if a SnapMap was inserted into the experiment and then left at the default values. This was more likley with 0.5 x 0.5 mm maps.

4728 Can now control the sample bias the UV Source experiment object.

4733 Add delays when opening V61/V62 on K-Alpha+ systems with UV source. Aids filament life times

4734 Fixed problem following the resetting of the MXR3 filament lifetime; the spot powers were also resetting to low beam power. This issue was affecting K-Alphas fitted with a T226 detector and a small crystal.

Avantage 5.963

4712 Reset the modes to their default values after fitting a new XR6 emitter.

4715 Added functionality to leave the MAGCIS magnet ON.

Avantage 5.962

4710 Fix for T233 device driver. Updates to the T233 driver in Avantage V5.958 introduced a timing bug which would cause the T233 to randomly reset itself and go in to a state that would cause experiments on Escalab 250 Xi/Xi+ to fail. New driver version is V3.0.0.3

Avantage 5.961

4707 Default Bake temperature changed to 100 °C on Escalab 250 Xi/Xi+ systems. THE PLC CODE MUST BE UPGRADED FOR THIS CHANGE TO TAKE AFFECT.The monochromator crystal needs to be removed if the bake temperature is above 100°C.New warning added.

4708 Fix for Scanned Spectra (K-Alpha and Theta) Start / End - Centre Width incorrect values saved. Also problem seen with spectra inserted with MultiSpectrum tool.

Avantage 5.960

4696 Fix for K-Alpha performance specs failing on some older K-Alphas even though the standard X-Ray spot size specs and the ultimate spec had passed.



4704 Various fixes for SnapMap acquisition, including new FPGA firmware. When the PC was stressed due to high CPU or memory usage, OR USB traffic very high, then SnapMaps could fail because data was not being read from the T250 quickly enough. Buffering at T250 and in the Avantage code increased so the last 100 pixels of the SnapMap are buffered. The T250 detector will need to be re-calibrated using the 1D/2D detector toolkit after the new FPGA is installed.

4705 Fix for the MXR1 x-ray gun occasionally failing to ramp correctly.

Avantage 5.959

4692 Fix for NLLSF. Some dialog controls were disabled

4693 K-Alpha/K-Alpha+ instruments with a UV source now have variable sample bias control.

Avantage 5.958

4678 "SetAvantageSimulation.exe" added. This utility app allows simulation to be turned on/off for all installed components. The app will be found in C:\Program Files\Thermo\Avantage\bin or C:\Program Files (x86)\Thermo\Avantage\binJust run the app and check "Simulation on all components" or drop down the list and pick individual components.

4679 Drivers for T208, T226, T227, T232, T233, T234a, T234b, T237 and T250 upgraded to use latest Cypress driver which is USB 3 compatible

4682 Can now use the stage view to insert objects into UV source experimentsFix for possible problem with incorrect energies displayed when switching between Start / End and Centre / Width in K-Alpha and Theta Probe scanned spectra, including Multi Spectrum Insert

4686 SnapMap now allows 0.5 x 0.5 mm area

Avantage 5.957

4666 Light control tab added to experiment point/line/area objects. This controls the analysis chamber lights and gives the options to 'leave lights as they are', 'Set to a saved state' or 'Turn all Lights off'.This is supported on K-Alpha, Kalpha+, ESCALAB 250 Xi, ESCALAB Xi+, Sigma Probe (Systems A1384 and later) and Theta Probe (Systems A1384 and later)

4671 Fix for K-Alpha and Theta Probes. Drop-off in counts at the low end of the BE range of a scanned acquisition when the scan was placed under a depth profile, but only if "Enable variable number of scans in each phase of multiphase etching" turned ON

Avantage 5.956

4641 Add support for acquiring Raman spectra using OMINC software. OMNIC is driven by an Avantage experiment object and the data stored in a VGD file.

4670 An incorrectly compiled version of the Master Baldor PLC code for a second generation K-Alpha was released in Avantage V5.955. This would result in the Master PLC failing to run and the turbos stopping. This would affect K-Alphas fitted with NextMoveESB-2 PLCs only.Avantage V5.955 should not be used on any K-Alphas. Avantage V5.956 fixes this issue. Other instrument types were unaffected.

Avantage 5.955

4669 Fix for steps in scanned data appearing while acquiring the spectra. This only happened at certain step widths and pass energies. Also a fix for the first/last point of scanned acquisition never being filled in at high pass energies, it was left as an undefined value. Again, this only happened at certain step widths and pass energies. Applies to all K-Alpha and ThetaProbes systems

Avantage 5.954



4657 Text displayed when blanking and un-blanking the ion gun is misleading - the dialog feedback seems to suggest that the filament has failed when actually all is OK - Text of feedback string corrected.

4658 Optimisation of K-Alpha/K-Alpha+ performance specifications

Avantage 5.953

4631 Fix for Log Viewer app crashing if the "C:\AvantageSystem\Misc" folder was deleted. The code now re-creates the "C:\AvantageSystem" folders if they do not exist.

4633 Added improved default TXFN for Small Area mode on Xi. This will only apply on new installations.

4634 SnapMap feature added to K-Alpha and K-Alpha+. This consists of a new experiment object and third panel in the optical view from which to run SnapMaps on-the-fly. This feature is only available if the system is fitted with a T250 and Sync cable. This is an upgrade option on existing K-Alpha/K-Alpha+ systems which have a T11-57 (Cluster Source Ready) PLC distribution board.

4635 Fix for the ion beam etch defaulting to the cluster modes when non exist

4638 Implemented a new raster size calculation, based on a stage movement, for new installations.

4640 Fixed bug in the maximum raster size calculation

4643 Automated UV support added to K-Alpha+ systems

4644 Corrected the source energy for silver when used on a twin anode

4647 Fix for getting the error "The PLC could not be notified of the experiment state. Check PLC operation" followed by "Theta300XSampleHandling. Failed to send command to PLC: hRes = 0x80070005" when opening Avantage on a Theta300i system

4651 SnapMap experiment object can now be inserted from Multi-spectrum Insert dialog on systems that have Issue 1 Rev 1 of the T250 fitted.

4652 Fixed the status indicator for the ion gun on the CNT Theta.

4653 Updated FPGA (ver 00BF) to support Issue 1 Rev 1 of the T250 Detector. The new revision of the T250 has the following improvements:-

1. Support for External Trigger input used to support SnapMap acquisition.2. Improved electrical protection circuits.3. Increased gain on the input signals (A.B/C/D). Thereby allowing detector voltages to be reduced.

This version of FPGA is backwardly compatible with older versions of the T250 and their operation will be unaffected.

4654 Updated Avantage Drivers for T208/T226/T227/T232/T233/T234A/T234B/T237/T250 to be compatible with windows 10

4656 Added support for EDS detector on Escalab 250 Xi. There is now a PLC system option for EDS.

Avantage 5.952

4622 Fix for board details of T208/T227/T232/T233/T234a/T234b and T237 not being recorded in the instrument backup. This bug was introduced when the generic Cypress driver was adopted.

4626 Changed vacuum protection for FEG1000. Now uses the PLC chamber pressure reading.

4627 Fix for accidental system vent situation on Escalab 250 Xi. If venting entry lock on system with manual UV source fitted then you are asked to make sure V13 is closed. If this prompt is ignored and allowed to time out then the vent was continuing without V11 being closed. This would result in the analysis chamber being vented.

Avantage 5.951

4619 Fixed the plasma lit indicator on UV details page



4621 Added a check box to switch off the tolerance checking

Avantage 5.950

4607 Added the SwitchFegLogging program

4609 Added option auto set-up the ion gun monatomic modes only.

4614 Increased the default maximum setting for the mono filament current to be 2A for a MXR1 gun.

Avantage 5.949

3817 Turn off the removal of transmission function from signature files for K-Alpha

4590 T250 1D/2D detector Digital Filter is now turned on by default on new instruments. Generally the Digital Filter has been found to improve resolution and performance. This setting can be changed by the user checking/unchecking the Digital Filter option in the appropriate detector toolkit and starting an acquisition. PLEASE NOTE. If you change the state of the Digitial Filter on K-Alpha or Theta Probe then you will need to re-acquire Signatures and re-run spectrometer setup in the Calibration tool.

4591 New lens signature algorithm made the default on new K-Alpha Systems.The new algorithm can be enabled by installing and running this release of Avantage. Exit Avantage, run server stopper and then changing the registry entries HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VGScientific\InstrumentConfig\2DDetector\SettingsLensSignatureAlgorithm = 3BinningFixUp = 2Re-run all steps on the Spectrometer tab in the K-Alpha Calibration Tool after making the registry changes.

4592 New Escalab 250 Xi System option called "Gas Cell backing is on the same chamber" added.This option is enabled for 3 chamber systems (Analysis - Entry - Prep) and is used to display the correct vacuum schematic.

4603 Fix for Gas Cell Trip activating when cluster source is running. The gas cell pressure trip level for V37 set to a higher pressure (5 x 10-3 mBar) when cluster source pumping connect to the same chamber as the gas cell. The normal gas cell trip level for all other systems remains at 5 x 10-4 mBar.

Avantage 5.948

4284 K-Alpha vacuum schematic will show the backing pressure with a yellow background if the pressure is too high for the current state. If all leak valves a re closed then backing pressure should be below 5x10-1 mBar. If a leak valve (V6/V7/V63) is open then backing pressure should be below 1 mBar.

4519 Log Viewer can now open zipped up log files. When opening old log files the open dialog will default to .zip file. It will unzip the file into a temporary location automatically and delete it on close.

Avantage 5.947

4577 Support for a 5th Turbo (T5) that is dedicated to differential pumping on Escalab 250 Xi. This change means that there is no V3 or V11 valves and that the user can pump or vent the entry lock while an experiment is running.

4580 Reduce the logging of "Analysis Pressure Gauge Error, Error Code (1)" on K-Alphas with very good vacuum by adding a retry check

4583 New 'AC Mode' algorithm added to T250 acquisition. This supercedes the 'binning fix up' documented in SCR#4540. It is implemented in a new version of T250 FPGA firmware (v00.97), but is turned off by default for existing instruments. It can be turned on by changing HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VGScientific\InstrumentConfig\2DDetector\Settings\BinningFixUp=2.BinningFixUp = 0 = No changes.BinningFixUp = 1 = Fixed Bin AveragingBinningFixUp = 2 = T250 AC Mode ON.If this registry entry is changed then re-run the instrument setup detector setup and signatures.



Avantage 5.945

4568 Fix for Avantage Crash. Insert an experiment object e.g. Group and start typing straight away OR open the Data Axes Selection dialog and start typing straight away.

4569 Fix for the "Automatically Transfer Sample And Run Experiment After Waiting" option on the K-Alpha that caused the experiment to be run at the wrong time.

4572 Fixed possible crash in Energy Scale Calibration routine

4573 Updated version of the Imaging Source PAL to USB converter (DFG USB2Pro) driver released. Fix issues when running under 64 bit windows.

4575 Added ability to ramp the spectrometer in a pendulum fashion.

4576 Possible Ion Gun server crash on shut down fixed

4578 Fix for Analysis-Entry-Prep 3 chamber Escalab 250 Xi where only the entry lock has a vent valve V8 (i.e. No V55). This scenario requires the prep chamber to be vented via the entry lock. However, the differential pumping valves (V3 and V11) where not being closed.

Avantage 5.944

4562 Fix for K-Alpha and Escalab 250 Xi system bake. Make sure the bake time remaining is zero at the end of baking and also if aborting or stopping a bake. Now counts down in cool down period.

4563 Added logging of Bake Duration and Temperature to the PLC log file.

4564 New K-Alpha+ Stages will now have a valid X Axis range, through Avantage, of +75mm to +2.0mm

Avantage 5.943

4548 Added default Lens modes for ISS, REELS and UPS to setup of Theta Probe

4549 Added default Lens modes for ISS, REELS and UPS to setup of Sigma Probe

4550 Fix for CEM Toolkit crashing when started on refereshed Sigma Probes. The Spectrometer Toolkit app would also fail to connect to the Spectrometer service.

4552 Systems using T240 UV supply. Closing of V12 after the leak valves V61 and V62 are both closed now happens as a background task after a 30 second delay. The background task is aborted if V12 needs to be re-opened during the delay period.

4553 Fix for possible situation which blocks all further PLC commands to the Slave PLC. The error "Failed to run slave command. There is a conflict between Master PLC tasks trying to run Slave commands." would be logged. Common to K-Alpha/Escalab 250 Xi and Theta Probes.

4554 Support for Diss5 slow scan frame grabber for SEM imaging added that uses the new driver from Point Electronic Gmbh. Supports 32 and 64 bit windows.

4557 Hide the sputter rate controls in the depth profile when in cluster mode

4560 Fix for rare situation where systems using a T250 fail an experiment run with ACQ-08002 and then the T250 goes into a cycle of connecting/disconnecting.

Avantage 5.942

4540 Enhanced lens signature correction algorithm made the default used on new K-Alpha/K-Alpha+ systems. Older instruments will remain as they were. The new algorithm can be enabled by installing and running this release of Avantage. Exit Avantage, run server stopper and then changing the registry entries HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VGScientific\InstrumentConfig\2DDetector\SettingsLensSignatureAlgorithm = 2BinningFixUp = 1All signatures MUST then be re-acquired using the K-Alpha Calibration Tool.



4542 Theta angle resolved acquisition will now always use default Angluar Distribution Factors. The registry entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VGScientific\InstrumentConfig\2DDetector\Settings\AngularDistributionFactors will be ignored on older systems and never saved on newer systems.

4544 Tested the differential between the cathode HT and the focus (with regard to ground) when ramping the MXR3

Avantage 5.941

4536 Fix for Avantage locking up on a K-Alpha+ system if running an experiment with many spectra defined (e.g. 600+). The user interface would become unresponsive and would eventually crash if lots of clicking around done.

4539 Allow a larger range of cluster sizes for depth profiling

Avantage 5.940

4489 XR5 - Reworked the ramp sequence to eliminate potential anode burn scenarios.

4528 Escalab 250 Xi can now have 4 lights controlled through the optical view. Two new System Options have been added, one for each light, to EscalabSystemOptions.exe. The new lights can be turned on and off only; there is no slider bar.

4530 Fix for a user inserting a point through the optical view and then to see it go to a stored point when the experiment was run. The 'defined' and 'stored' options were both ticked, which was incorrect. A point inserted through the optical view is forced to be a 'defined' point irrespective of the preferences for a point object.

4531 Changed the ion gun auto-set routine to favour lower voltage condenser values.

4533 Fixed a problem with the Manual Source Object's preferences

Avantage 5.939

4412 Revised K-Alpha/K-Alpha+ Stage Test Released. The new stage test will test the full length of travel as defined by the Avantage stage limits and fail if the error > 50um on X/Y/Z axes after 100 cycles. K-Alphas setup with older versions of Avantage will continue to use the old stage test.

Avantage 5.938

4520 Added a fix for the MAGCIS auto set-up failing to ramp the correct magnet current.

Avantage 5.937

4395 Fix crash when restoring Avantage settings using Instrument Backup Restore run and Avantage is not installed

4429 The sample can now be moved to the park position and back to analysis using the Gun Shutdown experiment object. Transfering the sample implies that all sources will be shutdown. This feature is for K-Alpha only

4477 Added ability to rename process-grids by double-clicking on the tab.

4498 Auto analysis - fix for missing colour key for Periodic Table.

4499 Ion Guns (EX06, MAGCIS) prompt users to select a fixed sample current range before running a manual sample current map. This avoids running in Auto range which could change range during the map

4501 Increased number of steps for Field Of View FOV when using FEG1000 RAFI control unit

4505 Added Window..Organise Tabs menu commands for organising data grid tab-groups.Enables setting equal sizes for separated process grid documentsEnables recombining all separated process grid documents into a single document

4507 Charge compensation experiment object preferences operation corrected.



4508 Depth Profile and Ion Etch - Raster Size is now a smart preference, when not selecting Auto Raster Size. Recalls last used value instead of setting a default value.

4511 PLC Code update. Hold vent valve V8 open for 15 minutes instead of 10 minutes on refreshed Sigma/Theta Probes.

4512 For MAGCIS modes the drift and magnet are now read only

4513 Factored in the shift offsets to the maximum raster size calculation.

Avantage 5.936

4466 The stage nudge buttons for Z and Tilt will now appear in the optical view in Avantage when using the chamber view camera on Theta and Sigma Probes

4491 Fix for Project Root and Project Name drop down combos in the experiment root node. The Project Root drop down should show the last used Project roots. The Project Name drop down should list the last used Project Name plus all of the folders under the currently selected Project Root Folder. The Project Name List should update as soon as the user has changed the project root name.

4496 K-Alpha system bake now gives a warning message about potential damage to large X-Ray monochromator crystals if baking for more than 12 hours.

Avantage 5.935

4484 Improved speed of acquisition for Scanned Spectra on Escalab 250 Xi. Survey scans are now 3 times faster than they were under v5.934.Narrow scans are now 20% to 25 % faster.

The speed of acquisition on other instruments ( K-Alpha and Theta Probes) is the same as before.The speed improvement has largely come from optimizing the code to handle the 2 USB links on the Xi.K-Alpha and Theta Probes have only 1 USB link to the spectrometer and therefore do not benefit from the changes.

4490 Removed the magnet current from the MAGCIS pre-ramp

Avantage 5.934

4478 Improved startup of COM ports - avoid problems with "Undefined state" especially after PC restart

4480 Added the 'blank x-ray gun' option to the depth profile preferences

4481 Fix for "Processing Only" installation failing under Windows XP. It was failing to load the dll "DriverInstallUtils.dll" which is not needed in a "Processing Only" installation.

4482 Fix for Aborting a bake on an Escalab 250 XI with FEG fitted was not turning off the FEG heater.

4483 All detectors will go into stand-by mode with a reduced detector voltage, 70% of normal value, after two seconds of inactivity.Normal voltage is set when next spectrum is run.

4486 Fix to make FG02 ramp more reliable.

4487 Fix for upgrades of Theta Probes that had been using the M2416 Carlson ISA card for the 2D Detector. This was not handle correctly and ended up with software components missing e.g. 2D Detector Toolkit.

The T250 Detector is now picked as a replacement by default.

If the system has a T232 then pick "Do not keep current settings" when installing Avantage and pick T232 when the question about detector type is asked.

Avantage 5.933

4458 Improved the Manual-Peak-ID software behaviour & appearance.Re-instated Add Peak button V5.937



4470 MAGCIS ion gun scan and shift values are re-written to electronics before starting an etch.

4471 New PLC code v2.32 for K-Alpha. Added a retry in check on turbo states during a bake so that a CAN bus error does not immediately abort a bake

4472 Added software protection for T250 when running with test signal on. It now powers down the Spectrometer if the T250 Test signal is on. This applies when running T250 from the 1D/2D toolkits. This will help with diagnosing T250 problems

4474 Alternative lens signature algorithm for K-Alpha added.

The new method uses a range of KE centre energies at a fixed Pass Energy (150). The retard ratio is calculated.Which algorithm is used can be set through the registry.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VGScientific\InstrumentConfig\2DDetector\Settings]"LensSignatureAlgorithm"=dword:1 = Default value. Use existing LSC method

Change this to below to get new method. Signatures will need to be re-acquired if this is changed.

"LensSignatureAlgorithm"=dword:2 = Use new method as described above

Avantage 5.932

4454 RemoveAvantageDrivers.exe app added. This will remove all Thermo Fisher USB drivers supplied as part of Avantage.The drivers covered are T208/T226/T227/T232/T233/T234a/T234b/T250.It does not affect third party drivers such as firewire camera and Baldor PLC drivers.This utility is needed if down grading from this version (or later), to V5.930 or earlier.Run this utility, then uninstall Avantage and then re-install the older version of Avantage.

4455 Greater flexibilty for Load-Peak-Table, allowing loading of peaks with energy-ranges that only partially overlap the target spectrum energy-range.

4456 Peak table is now refreshed after deleting a peak

4457 New FPGA code (v0x007D) for T250. It introduces the Digital Filter which defaults to OFF, but can be turned ON through the Detector toolkit.The T250 will lose its calibration as a result of the upgrade and will need to re recalibrated through the 1D/2D detector toolkit.

4461 Increased the time allowed for K-Alpha gun auto set-up routines.

Avantage 5.931

4443 Change to XR6 ramp sequence - Increased the bombard voltage ramp rate and reduced the filament ramp rate

4444 T208 USB Test Tool removed from Avantage and Hardware Test Tools. This utility is no longer used.

4447 New device drivers (v2.7 25th June 2014) released for T208/T226/T227/T232/T233/T234a/T243b/T237 and T250. Upgrading to Avantage V5.931, or later, from earlier versions will automatically upgrade all drivers. However, if Avantage is downgraded to V5.930 or earlier then the old drivers will need to be re-installed.A new utility has been added in V5.932 called RemoveAvantageDrivers.exe.So to down grade, install V5.932 or later, run RemoveAvantageDrivers.exe, uninstall Avantage and then re-install V5.930 or earlier

4449 Gave some IonGunSetupLog files more meaningful names.

4450 MXR3 - default Anode date ste to current date, (previously was 1 Jan 2000)

Avantage 5.930



4437 Fix for Log Viewer crashing when running under 64 bit windows and looking at a PLC log file and clicking "Show log file data in Vacuum Diagnostics" button

4441 Fix for energy and detector signature only being acquired for 1 second instead of the usual 600 secs on Theta Probes. Bug introduced in release v5.929 6036

4442 Fix for the sample current not switching to the Faraday cup reading correctly

Avantage 5.929

4379 Fix for wrong angle-signature files being applied on Theta Probe angle-resolved scanned spectra, this only happened when the pass-energy was changed just before running the experiment.

4385 Wait for pressure now added to Wait experiment object on Theta Probe MKII

4422 Added option to switch the PID on for FG01 high energy flood gun modes

4423 When changing XR5 modes, the focus is now set to maximum prior to any other changes in beam conditions.

4425 K-Alpha crystal serial number can now be recorded in the MXR3 details page

4426 Fix for default tranmission functions not being registered when installing as K-Alpha+. This also caused TXFNs to be not automatically removed at acquisition time for K-Alpha+ systems.

4431 Improved ion-gun leak-valve operation if gun mode selected but gun not switched on

4434 Fix for Avantage freeze when running overnight, if logfile was auto zipped.

4435 Made the x-ray details page, optionally, always on top.

Avantage 5.928

4413 Fix for getting CRC errors when installing Avantage using the CD image installation.

4414 Fix for rare freeze in T229 Server (K-Alpha light control) when comms break or when running ServerStopper

4415 Improved the twin x ray filament condition routine.

4416 Fix for system pump down failing on Theta Probes in some circumstances.

Avantage 5.927

4378 Fix for 30 day trial period not working. It said there were 0 days left immediately

4380 Fix for pressure spike if V63 was closed and re-opened 30seconds later. If the re-opening of V63 coincides with the delayed close of V64 then there was a window of opportunity to get V63 open and V64 left closed.

4381 Optional Cross hair added to the 2D live view in the 2D detector toolkit

4383 Multipoint experiment-object 'Stage' property-page controls not responding - fixed.

4389 'Add point from stage map' was not working on 'Refreshed Small Theta'.

4390 Close analysis gate valve(s) when differential pumping valve (V3) opened. This applies to Escalab 250 Xi and Theta Probes. It helps prevent experiments failing because the gate valves have been left open.

4392 Automated Ion Gun Setup on Theta Probe (with Baldor PLC) default to use 800um aperture

4393 Fixed a problem with single-overlayer angle-resolved calculations.The input analyser-angle was having no effect on the overlayer thickness for depth-profile data

4394 Fixed angle-resolved multi-overlayer dialog chart 'Copy Values' menu-item not outputting correct text.

4396 Not all pressure readings displayed with a logarithmic scale in Log Viewer

4399 Reliability changes for pressure trip monitoring.



4402 The Log Viewer now starts correctly, if installed as part of a processing only installation, on 64 bit versions of windows.

4404 Corrected the specification modes referenced in the EX06 auto set-up

4406 Fixed crash with SurveyID, where the Peak Library preference is set to "THERMO_01"

4407 Correct PLC code on Sigma/Theta Probes and Escalab 250 Xi. Hold reset all turbos line for 1000mSec to ensure proper reset of turbos.Sigma/Theta Probe code version = v1.44Escalab 250 Xi code version = v3.00

4409 Improved the default values for the 500eV monatomic modes.

4410 Added support for K-Alpha+

4411 The Standard Avantage User Ids (i.e. Engineer, expert and operator) are no longer added by the Avantage installation. There is now a stand alone utility to do this. Documented in field service bulletin "HX00095 Adding standard Avantage user IDs to new PCs not supplied by the Factory".

Avantage 5.926

4358 EX06 ion gun now uses the common Ion Gun Server.Log files can now be found in RampLogs\IonGun folder instead of in RampLogs\EX06 folder.Auto-setup is now similar to the MAGCIS and allows set-up of an individual mode.

4371 Fail aperture moves or datum if the stage motors are disabled and display an error message. The disable signal disables all motors including the apertures.

4374 Improved the accuracy of the monitored logging

4375 Remove the opening of V64 after an entry lock pump down or gas line flush.Open V64 when needed during a system pum down or vacuum recovery, but close it again at the end of these operations

4377 Fix for XPS imaging experiments causing the User Interface to become un-responsive.

Avantage 5.925

4354 Allow the Escalab 250 XPS imaging experiment object to save images at different resolutions; 64x64 or 128x128.

4357 Fix for occasional crashes in auto analysis experiment. Auto analysis tries to add a copy of the current sample holder image with markers on to the report. The crash happened when the code tried to create a VGD based on the sample image and this failed for some reason. If this error occurs then auto analysis will continue, but leave the sample holder image part of the report blank.

4359 Improved Help File Index and Contents pages

4360 Added extra CAN bus error handling. Will get CAN errors seen by the slave and EXTI/O PLCs logged. Previoulsy only the Master PLC logged CAN bus errors.

4361 The various gun servers now remove older log files before creating new logs. The files removed now include all historical legacy file names

4362 Theta Probe hot bakes (>120°C) will ask if the crystal has been removed. If the user clicks YES then the crystal water flow will not be monitored during bake. If the user clicks NO then the bake will error and abort.Normal bakes will not ask the question and will always monitor the crystal water flow.

4364 Automatic closing of V1 and V2 (if fitted) at the end of bake once the bake temp < 100 °C.This aids pump down after baking to achieve ultimate pressure.

4366 Make Valve and turbo icons in the vacuum schematics for K-Alpha/Xi/Theta probe grey out when they are disabled. For example when PLC command is running.

4367 Clear the PLC code state of "TSP running" once the TSP has completed. Removes confusion. Applied to Escalab 250 Xi and Theta Probes.



4368 Improved the ion gun auto-setup routine so that extractor adjustment is included when required.

4369 Fix for Snapshot experiments on K-Alpha getting un-expectedly longer.This bug was introduced in Avantage V5.923.By default all K-Alphas should run snap shots with a minimum frame duration of 1msec. This was being overwritten by the Dwell Time set in the 1D Detector toolkit. So, if a user entered 1000mSec Dwell Time in the 1D Detector Toolkit and started acquisition then this would result in the "Time Per Frame" being rounded up to 1 Second in all snapshot experiments run subsequently.This build of Avantage will force all K-Alphas to have a minimum frame duration of 1msec.Experiments that have been affected by this bug will need to be edited to put back the original "Time Per Frame". The "Time Per Frame" can again have a value between 0.001sec and 4sec.

4370 Fixed occasional crash in the Span and Offset K-Alpha set-up routine.

Avantage 5.924

4348 Fix for Refreshed Theta Probe system pump down with Cluster Source. Start Cluster Source Turbo at the same time as the other turbos. Changes to the opening of V64 to speed up system pump down and avoid turbo timeout situations.

4349 Information view now displays label Pass Energy or Retard Ratio depending upon CAE or CRR mode

4353 MXR3 focus modification now works with the German locale selected.

Avantage 5.923

4346 Changes for 1D/2D detector settings through the Detector toolkit should be picked up by Avantage without having to close and re-open Avantage. Was working only sometimes.

Avantage 5.922

4334 EX05 / T164 PSU Ion Gun - fix for rare failure to ramp if filament fail indicator was temporarily activated.Also resets trips and interlocks after ramping the gas during the ramp.

4335 S2p and O KLL peak positions in Thermo data base improved

4338 An x-ray based experiment may not fail even if the x-ray has shutdown. Now Fixed

4341 Fix for rounding display of source energy in Manual Source Experiment object

4342 Fix for the automatic re-calibration of the T226. When a K-Alpha is power cycled then the T226 detector needs to be re-calibrated. This should happen automatically, but was broken in Avantage V5.915. Got the following errors in the PLC log when automatic re-calibration failed.

17-Dec-2013 14:31:34*** Power cycle flags have been set in the registry, attempt to calibrate detector17-Dec-2013 14:31:34*** Failed to calibrate the detector

Avantage 5.921

4317 Fix for crash when Show Ratemeter is selected from CEM experiment objects

4330 Snap Log button replaced in most gun details page with Comms Log. This creates a low level comms log csv file in the gun RampLogs folder for diagnostic purposes.Changed the way the comms logging works so that nowfiles always have the time\date in their file-name andpre-existing files more than two days old are removed.

4331 Fix for crash when collapsing the angle-axis in an angle-resolved multi-point map, when selecting more than one of the region dataspaces for collapsing

Avantage 5.920

4311 Support for special pumping option Theta Probe PLC. Added System Option "Differential Pumping through T3"



4313 PLC CAN Bus errors not being detected on Theta probes. Observed during a failed system pump down failing to close Entry Isolation valve V6.

4321 The scan values for the EX06 Ion gun can initially display a huge shift offset in X and/or Y.Fix for EX06 scans sometimes being set incompletely when gun is startedAdded a 200 millisecond delay between switching the scan board on and programming the voltages

4322 Fix for Single-Overlayer-Plugin,Some incorrect operationMaterial list autoprompt not workingSome dialog items not always correctly displayed – text clippedProblem with interaction between instrument type / user preferences – most probably affecting K-Alpha data only

4324 Fix for occasional experiment failing to ramp when X-ray gun is already on

4326 Improved handling of Theta Probe EX05 / T241 ion gun control of sample bias. Sample bias may have been disabled after a vacuum trip.

4327 Crash when loading NLLSF peaks from one depth-profile into asecond depth-profile when the second profile has more levels than the first

4328 Added EX05 support to the LogViewer

Avantage 5.918

4314 Fix for Avantage upgrade on Escalab 250 Xi systems losing the 2d / CEM detector toolkit. If upgrading to any version between v5.905 v5.917 from earlier versions of Avantage then the toolkit was not installed.

4315 Fix for Combined peaks were not being loaded from Load Peak Table

4316 Fix for crash while trying to drag XPS images from experiment into a process grid if the experiment had been aborted before the data was acquired.

4318 Showing G6 Gauge as having a Gauge Error on Theta probes with no G6.Problem in the System Options app. It was forcing G6 to be on.Fix the problem by running the System Options App and turning G6 off and saving the System Options again.

Avantage 5.917

4312 Enhancements for Experiment Processing – especially export of Theta 300 wafer maps

Avantage 5.913

4301 Change default installed Quant DB, Library and EnergyCorrection method from ChemState.mdb / ALSCOF / KE^ecsftoQuantLibrary01.mdb / ALTHERMO1 / TPP2MThis will only apply on fresh installations of Avantage or if new users are created when they first use Avantage. Existing users preferences will not be changed.The selection can be changed in Edit...Preferences...Processing...Peak Library

4306 Dumped Analysis turbo when trying to pump down Entry lock.Fix for close of V64, pump entry lock should wait for close cluster valves to complete before continuing.

4307 Fix for K-Alpha lens signature sometimes not being applied

4309 Experiment processing crash with SingleOverlayer plugin, under certain conditions the code in single overlayer plugin will put up a message box that blocks the experiment run, if left too long gives a crash later

4310 The sequence of the experiment running seems to go wrong with long waits for the ion gun to un-blank.Monitored Values log files now get entry when gun state changes (X-ray, Ion, Flood)Prevent experiment objects being locked if abnormal gun shutdown



Avantage 5.912

4293 Fixes for possible experiment errors "Acquisition already in progress ACQ-08013" when using depth profiling with short spectrum acquisition times

4296 Sputter Rates appear as zero in Depth Profile for default Mode

4300 Improved handling of Manual Source options when preferences have not been set

Avantage 5.911

4280 Image Display enhanced to allow display of Statistics Image Display enhanced with option to display subdivision values on colour scale barInterpolate Scattered Data embeds copy of original data into new dataspace

4282 FEG1000. Incorrect multiple modes display if a mode has zero energy

4283 XR5: Cathode can not be adjusted from its default value easily.Added new controls to adjust the cathode mode settings



4285 Important Changes for Ion and Flood Gun Pumping (Escalab 250 Xi, K-Alpha, Theta Probe with Baldor PLC)Requires Baldor PLC Software Update to be installed

What has changed

1. The Ion and Flood gun servers will send commands to the PLC to open or close the appropriate leak valve only. 2. The Ion and Flood gun servers will no longer send commands to directly open/close the differential pumping valve V3 or V64. This will be the responsibility of the Baldor PLC to open V3 and V64 as appropriate.3. When V63 is asked to close then a background task is started to close V64 after an appropriate delay (2 minutes on Escalab250 Xi and Theta Probes, 30 seconds on K-Alpha).4. The ‘close V64’ background task will not block other PLC commands being issued.5. If a PLC command is received to open V63 or V64 then the ‘close V64’ background task will be aborted.6. When shutting down the Ion or flood gun then V3 will be left open.7. Calls to open V27 (flood gun leak valve) on MAGCIS systems will not open V3. 8. Calls to open V27 (flood gun leak valve) on none cluster systems will open V3.9. Calls to close V3 will fail if one of the leak valves (K-Alpha V6, V7 or V63; Xi and Theta Probe V4, V27 and V63) are open. i.e. You cannot vent the entry lock (or prep lock if V3 connects to it) if the Ion or Flood gun is running.10. This design change will affect all Escalab 250 Xi, K-Alphas and refreshed Theta Probes (Theta Probe MKII as I call it) whether they use a MAGCIS or not.

Why has it changed

1. When shutting down a cluster mode then there needs a delay before closing V64 or V3. 2. If they are closed immediately then there will be a pressure spike in the analysis chamber which could cause a vacuum trip.3. V64 should not be left permanently open when the ion is shutdown. Possible back contamination from backing pump.4. This was being done, but in a manner that lead to long delays while running the PLC commands and hence a long delay in shutting down the Ion Gun.5. Cluster systems do not need V3 to open when running the flood gun. The differential pumping of the flood gun goes to the additional turbo and not V3.6. These changes will speed up the running up and closing down of the cluster source and avoid situations that could cause a pressure spike or trip.

What do you need to do

1. Install current version of Avantage2. Open Avantage.3. Open the vacuum diagnostics from the sample handling tab.4. Switch the Miscellaneous tab.5. Check the PLC Firmware of Master and Slave (Ext I/O if it is there). 6. If any of these are red then you will need to upgrade the PLC firmware following section 7.3.1 Upgrading PLC Firmware through Mint Workbench of work instruction QAISW030. Then return to the following step.7. Check the PLC Code versions. If these are green then all has been done, stop here8. If PLC Code versions are red then click the button labelled "Upgrade both PLCs to the latest PLC code and firmware"9. Click Yes on dialog displayed. The rest is automatic.10. Click Close when completed.

Important considerations

1. You cannot run the Ion or Flood guns with the old PLC code. You will get an error message stating "Gun will not operate until the PLC code is upgraded."2. If you need to go back to an older version of the Avantage (V5.910 or earlier) and you have upgraded the PLC code then you will need to put back the original PLC version.a. Uninstall Current version and always restart the PC when prompted



4285 b. Install the older version.c. Open Avantage.d. Open the vacuum diagnostics from the sample handling tab.e. Switch the Miscellaneous tab.f. Follow the instructions in section 7.3.2 Installing PLC Code the First Time of QAISW0030

4287 Experiment processing object 'New Processing Grid' can cause experiment to fail if the accumulated file paths are greater than 248 characters (Windows explorer limit). Add pre-run check for this & fail run before experiment starts and fails acquisition

4289 Improved Preferences & Properties for Image2d DisplayMore Image display preferences saved when vgp is savedQuantise levels option added for Image2d Display

4291 Escalab 250 Xi. Removed Flush for UPS button on systems that do not have a UV source.

4292 Added System options to allow for Gas Dosing on the Analysis Chamber for Escalab 250 Xi

4294 Default Electrostatic 8mm Image mode had an LM of 40.0 - should be zero

Avantage 5.910

4262 Make G6 gauge a selectable option on 3 Chamber Sigma/Theta probes

4265 MAGCIS auto setup enhancements

4276 Crashes with Experiment (batch) processing in when reporting wafer dataFixes obscure crash when setting LoadPeakTable properties, when the existing path-property doesn't exist on disk.

4278 Fix for depth profile experiment object is not working correctly when Compucentric Rotation is selected and the X-Ray gun is left un-blanked the whole time

4279 Fix for logging gauge error on G3 gauge on V1 K-Alphas. They do not have a G3 gauge

Avantage 5.909

4273 Cannot run the flood gun in ISS mode - fails with PLC error 199Escalab Xi PLC - Allow the opening of V27 if V9 OR (V18 AND V19) are open. Adjust text of error message 199Improved error text for error Xi PLC error code 138. Check that V3 is open and V1 closed.

Avantage 5.908

4261 Implement options dialog for 'Interpolate scattered points' image plugin

4267 Fix for Large buttons in SEM View on non-Xi systems. SEM view shows a button in Input Signal window. Stop it from creating the nudge/jog buttons if thet cannot be used.

4271 Increased range for K-Alpha Span and Offset setup. Span now starts at 0.120 (was 0.128)

Avantage 5.907

4222 Extend Split Profile function to other multilevel sets of data

4235 Lockup in Single Overlayer Calculator

4236 Empty Recent Files, Recent Experiments, Recent Reports - displays "Analysis Type" message box

4238 EX05 Server Details page - failed comms shows "RX Over"

4241 Fix for crash when loading peak table

4249 Lock up in Avantage when click Preferences

4251 Multipoint object is very slow to regenerate property page Points-list

Avantage 5.906

4225 Provide stage control in SEM View

4234 Fix for crash when reloading or dragdropping a MultiPoint object under a WaferReg object



Avantage 5.905

4224 UI preferences pages completely missing on XP installations

4226 Change PCA output grid eigen-value plot to always be the 'raw data version'

4227 Crashes just clicking on PeakAdd and AverageSpectrum plugins toolbar buttons

4228 Optical nudge buttons control of the stage not very good on Theta300

4229 Experiment, Save and Experiment, SaveAs cause Avantage to crash.

4230 Lockup at end of running wafer-registration experiments on Theta300

4231 Erroneous file path used during save video image for MultiPoint experiment object

4232 Fix for vent of Entry/Prep chamber dumping Ar into analysis if Cluster Source running

Avantage 5.904

4214 Some Xi Spectrometer default lens constants are incorrect

4215 Reporting gives long temp filenames if done from experiment processing

4217 ERA Detector toolkit fails to acquire data.

4218 Crashes in several processing situations reported by various customers.Fix for those customers experiencing a crash with reported problem operations e.g. :TimeToDepth pluginSurveyID pluginPeak Fit operationsNLLSF peak additionShow/hide residuals plot-line

4220 Crash when Arithmetic plugin adding two spectra that already have peaks

4223 Reporting problem : bar charts don't re-size to the metafile plot rectangle

Avantage 5.903

4208 T352 X-ray guns - allow HV Condition at 18kV

4209 Product EEPROM editor saves rubbish to Txxx boards

4210 The low, medium and high labels for the ion current can get altered after switching the mode set.

4211 Implement Resample plugin – provides ability to increase or decrease number of data points in spectra, images etc.

4212 Xi FG04 occasionally locks upon close-down.

4213 K-Alpha With Glove Box option can leave Vent Valve open

4221 Arithmetic and P-B in XPS imaging - suppress negatives and zeros.Put in datahole when DivideSpectra plugin encounters a zero divisor

Avantage 5.902

4065 WafermapReport plugin has mangled output metafile

4186 no Depth profile preferences on K-Alpha

4201 "Survey" named spectrum-objects / data-files, need a better way to detect surveys

4202 The Xi FG04 shows clear comms even if the in-lens flood is NOT communicating.

4203 The Xi in-lens flood gun remains in the ON state even if the filament and emission have actually collapsed for some reason.

4204 Enable OpticalFocus button on OpticalView toolbar for testing on Theta300

4205 Cluster gas valves failing to open



4207 FX2 EEPROM burner utility does not work under V5 build

Avantage 5.901

4172 Multiple button presses / losing focus

4199 EX06 ion gun auto set-up can crash

4200 AVG file export - no <CR> included

Avantage 5.90

4173 REELS installation on ESCALAB 250Xi

4179 Gun shutdown objects crashing

4181 Knowledge Viewer not enabled

4183 Relative Depth Plot - sliders don’t work

4187 Experiment sample exchange does not work with EFEM holders

4188 Legend can be in unexpected state when swtitching between display modes

4189 Peak-fit dialog 'Add new fitted-peak grid-cell markers' not appearing as expected

4190 Problem with context popup-menu in 'tune autoanalysis' dialog

4191 The analysis pressure is not being redirected out through SKT8 on the T195 PLC unit

4193 The Hardware Test Tools installation fails.

4195 In Automated Test Software 2 the About box crashes.

4197 Spectra have incorrect label Binding Energy(B.E.)/(eV)

4198 Old X-ray gun experiments fail to load properly.

Avantage 5.89

4174 Transfering samples on Theta300 MKII causes flood and ion gun to be shutdown during experiment

4175 Implement pattern-recognition for Mulit-point experiment object

4177 Boin display mode seems to be malfunctioning with Experiment-processing

4180 Loading old experiments can crash Avantage

Avantage 5.88

4163 Disappearing processing-plugin menu

4164 Information View cannot be copied and pasted

4168 The robot chamber pressure on Theta300 MKII is always shown in red

4169 SampleRegistration appears to sometimes give erroneous coord-transforms

4170 Support for Tilt sample holder not working on K-Alpha

4171 Sample exchange experiment object fails if run immediately after a gun shutdown

Avantage 5.87

4126 Aborting XPS imaging experiment on Xi crashes

4133 Releases complied for Unicode write the demo licence starting date as Chinese characters.

4135 Device Search is not updating the comm port for the camera zoom server,

4136 MXR3 power supply need short circuit protection.

4141 IonGunServer not showing current filament.



4147 The FG01 can deadlock upon start-up causing Avantage to halt at the splash screen indefinitely.

4148 The instrument control panels flicker.

4149 FG04 In Lens Flood Gun occasionally fails to ramp

4150 The Cluster on the Escalab Xi failed to ramp.

4151 The K-Alpha instrument should never have ISS modes registered

4152 Extra peak labels from SurveyID disappear when copy to another grid-cell

4155 Nyquist Stage service cannot re-establish comms if USB device disconnected and then reconnected

4156 PeakFit plugin dlg doesn't always add a new peak on 1st click of 'Add single peak'

4157 The zipping up of the log files can trigger repeat behaviour.

4158 Some servers can hang after having their Terminate() function called.

4160 Can't save Experiment Library file

4161 Spectrum Imaging crashes on 2nd attempt to abort experiment

4162 Large resource leak while editing experiment, caused Avantage lock-up

4166 Aperture settings such as "Use predefined aperture setting" gets lost

Avantage 5.86

4129 Disable the Lock stage check box if the transfer valve is open on Theta300 X

4131 Slow processgrid-cell updates for multilevel data in 2d-chart display mode.

4132 Optical view is black when first opened if "Small Image Display" preference selected

4137 Log viewer errors "The specified cast is not valid... Blah..blah LogViewer.cs:Line 623"

4138 Add support for Platter Camera option for Theta and Sigma probes MKII

4139 Point exp object fails to move stage to the correct position when using a stored point

4140 Add XPS knowledge database as a standard part of the installation

4144 Report-to-Clipboard giving badly placed or missing peak labels, esp with surveys

4145 Distracting flickers in processgrid when reporting or copying a spectrum chart

4146 Mod for A1398. Allow the zoom buttons on the joystick box to control digital zoom

Avantage 5.84

4120 The Analysis pressure changes a lot even when vacuum should be stable

4121 PLC log entries that contain multi-line messages get cropped in Log Viewer

4122 PLC Log file does not contain the users responce to PLC prompts

4125 Printing shows unequal sizes for chart2d cells in print preview window

4127 Escalab Xi pump down failing with gauge error on G1

4128 The state of the trips is not recorded in the T352_02_MonitoredValues.txt log file.

Avantage 5.83

3824 Heason stage control seems slow when controller is connected through 8 port USB serial box.

4059 Add some 'processing locks' during AutoAnalyse to stop user processing same data

4111 Crash with Time2Depth plugin when empty cell selected

4112 Crash when using LineBandScan plugin on gridcell that is not in Image mode



4114 Cannot abort "move to transfer position" through sample handling dialog

4115 P2p3 - P2p1 separation wrong

4116 Optical view causes a crash due to hidden X-Ray spot size control being updated

4117 When ramping small MXR1 spot sizes the gun fails to acknowledge that the PID has achieve the beam current required and so the ramp fails.

4119 Tilt experiment object doesn't record start angle in acquired data

4123 The FEG1000 server produces no log file

4124 Using "Move" button on Line scan Exp object crashes if auto height set

Avantage 5.82

4108 Some specific data does not display in Chart 3D = instrument iteration data

4110 The Escalab Xi spectrometer lens modes changes.

Avantage 5.81

4099 Manual ID crashes if used with Combined peak(s)

4100 Device search does not always find the Heason stage controller.

4107 The monitored values for the crystal position are not recorded

Avantage 5.80

4087 Bad redraw of experiment tree-control when load existing experiment

4088 Peak Fit dialog not showing iteration anymore + crash if quick re-click on fit-button

4089 Instrument control panel radio button labels disappearing in non-unicode build

4091 Ion Gun shutdown routine is non-abortable

4093 Can't manually control the flood gun filament current.

4094 The ion gun details page is not brought to the front when minimised and made active.

4096 The cluster gun modes should be called Monatomic rather Monomer.

4097 Cannot run an instrument if fast user switching is used.

4098 Theta probe ran a bake with V6 (entry turbo isolation) closed

Avantage 5.54

4167 FG04 in lens flood gun ramps wrong mode when driven from the instrument control panel or the charge compensation experiment object.

Avantage 5.53

4142 The optical view zoom tool bar missing on Theta300 MK I

Avantage 5.50

4086 XPS images through a Belkin viewed in the optical view have interference pattern

Avantage 5.49

4085 Need button to move to prep chamber transfer position on Theta Probe Ui. The Sample handling dialog needs a "Move to FEAL Transfer" and "Move To Prep Transfer" for 3 chamber systems.

Avantage 5.48

4048 Compucentric depth profiles can exceed stage limits and cause stage to lose its datum.Added a new depth profile error code for compucentric rotations that go outside the stage limits.



4070 Emergency Comms Log - give a date and time stamp

4072 Grid-options toolbar not showing in PCA processing-grid

4074 Ridiculous charge shift occuring during AutoAnalysis

4075 Add support for Camera and X-Ray spotter lights controls for Theta Probe

4077 ProcessGrid scroll bars acting oddly, sometimes disappearing

4080 Switching DigitalIonGun types in the registry, without registering the IonGunControl Server may result in the modes being loaded incorrectly.

4081 Further bad grid cell redraws if gridcell is blank or isn't a ComponentOne chart mode

Avantage 5.47

4010 Lens Control - lots of refreshes and updates/flickery display (seen on Xi)

4043 Calibrate FOV in K-Alpha Setup tool locks up

4044 Aborting an experiment, and restating it straight away.,can cause the ion gun valve handling to fail.

4049 Misleading filament state indicators on FG04.

4053 A Device Search, COM Port search can result in multiple devices using the same comm port.

4054 Add means of recording pressure spikes on Xi analysis pressure

4056 Lens Control - focus and flicker issues

4057 Clicking around process grid causes unexpected drag/drop of cells

4058 PeakFit 'Combine Algorithm' drop-box shows blank selection

4060 Crash when changing chart display modes in a process grid.Select two or more cells containing mult-level data and switch between the different display modes rapidly.Eventually you get a crash

4061 Chart2D legend On/Auto/Off not respecting menu + default legend too much 'On'

4062 Ni2p doublets not added properly

4063 beta Asym parametrs not being read from QuantLibrary01.mdb

4064 On the refreshed Theta the x-ray gun does not switch on the water flow.

4066 The left/right buttons in the full Nav bar in a process grid sometimes step twice

4067 ChargeShift not respecting prefs & incorrect behaviour of 'ShiftFrom" edit box

4068 CEM Toolkit (not Xi version) - some controls obscured

Avantage 5.46

4038 The FG04 External fllod gun report being on even when that filamnt is not selected

4040 Abort a system pump down on Escalab 250 Xi gives the PLC error message "Failed to close MAGCIS isolation valve since gas supply valve V4 or V63 are open, Error Code (174)" even though MAGCIS is not fitted

4042 Add mechanism to record the Analysis pressure on Theta Probe when a pressure trip occurs

Avantage 5.45

4011 Ion Gun Details page (cluster, EX05) does not handle no comms

4012 Trim data function - can it be used to extend the range e.g. colour scale on images

4013 Feg beam parameters not updating

4020 Make G6 an optional gauge and avoid putting out 3.16e-6 when not connected



4026 Log file viewer cannot display log file from V4.65 Avantage. Fix for displaying a K-Alpha log file (with instrument backup) from V4.65 of Avantage. The old log file does not contain the instrument version.

4027 Calibrate DACS in Lens Control - text not completely displayed

4028 Add a 'safe move' option to Theta Probe stage service. This means that all stage moves where the Start and destination Z height is different are split into two moves. The Z will be moved separatley from the other axes. This is safer but not bulletproof.

4029 Crash when vgd files dragged from explorer to a grid are saved as a vgp file

4034 The Cold cathode gauge needs to be turned off before the system is vented on Xi

Avantage 5.44

3998 Peak table - quantification check boxes (Q) do not apply correctly if unchecked when the peak table shows a scroll bar because the number of peaks is longer than can fit in current space.

3999 Increase the SEM View field of view (FOV) steps from 50 to 100

4000 MXR3 Dialog - remove Video Controls which crash

4001 Add instrument type checking in all Baldor PLC code

4002 EX06 Auto setup can set mode values to zero

4003 Nyquist SD017 is not detected by Device Search

4005 XR6 Filament Condition - log file reports volts not amps

4007 2DDetectorToolkit crashing from v5.42 when ratemeter started/stopped

4008 Bad spectrum redraw when scroll process-grid, appeared after started using Chart 8.0

4009 Bad display with 'position' peak-table-profile with live acquiring data

4015 Disable Vent prep chamber when Ion Guns are on (Xi)

4017 Peak & PeakFit tables going blank if clicked on when processing dialog showing

Avantage 5.42

3985 Fix for Escalab 250 Xi Stage service crashing when running Ion Gun Auto Setup.

3986 Search for text in the LogViewer. Switch the text view tab and press CTRL + F or right click and use context menu. F3 to find next item.

3987 Log Viewer. Allow the user to zoom in on the data in the chart control

3988 Allow the Log Viewer to display 2 data series at the same time

3989 Flood gun filament degas. Extractor Voltage is too low during a filament degas. Increased the extractor voltage to 40 for a filament degas.

3993 Fix for picking up wrong TXFN values. Ignore the '*' values if real values are available

Avantage 5.41

3981 Allow a "Processing Only" installation of Avantage to display PLC log files from all types of instrument (K-Alpha/Escalab 250 Xi/Theta Probe) and to prompt the user to open an instrument backup of the instrument that goes with the log so that the vacuum diagnostics can show the correct Vacuum Schematic diagram. This is to allow service support to browse log files from all customers and to help diagnose vacuum issues.

3984 Fix for the Initial state of the sample current controls in the IonGunServer not reflecting the actual state of the hardware.

Avantage 5.40

3975 Extend the default Tilt Axis limits on Escalab 250 Xi from (Min=-85.0 Max=+60) to (min=-85 max=+90). This change will not effect existing Escalab 250 Xi installations.



Avantage 5.39

3970 Fix for Auto Height failing on refreshed Theta Probes.

Avantage 5.38

3953 Added Chamber View App to allow a view of the main chamber in a separate app from Avantage.The Optical View in Avantage can be open at the same time with the sample view open.

3956 Fix for flood gun comms status light shows a fault at start up even though the actually OK

3959 All instruments using Baldor PLCs. Improve reporting of CAN bus errors

3967 Allow XR6 beam current to drift to a max of 15% on the calculated value.

Avantage 5.37

3929 Add support for Unicode format to allow multi-language support to be added to Avantage

Avantage 5.36

3906 K-Alpha. Fix for the PC remembering a new stage transfer position that is rejected by the PLC because it is out of the valid range. Only update the registry if we get an OK response from PLC.

Avantage 4.85

3954 Improved Vacuum diagnostics logging for K-Alpha/Escalab 250 Xi/Theta Probes. Now logs an entry every time the PC sees a change in the digital I/O states on the vacuum control PLCs.


Date post:	25-Nov-2018
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Avantage Release Notes · Avantage Release Notes ... 4828 Fixed random incidences of the ion gun...

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