Operating Procedures: Stage Control
5-25
C O N F I D E N T I A L
– limited rights
User Manual
Revision A
Feb 2018
Software control
The
Navigation
page contains the
Stage
,
Stage Z
and
Tilt Correction
modules, which control the stage movements
that locate the position of the specimen by reference to coordinate points.
Stage module
Three modes are possible via the list box:
•
Actual
mode
(default) – shows actual position coordinates in
the edit boxes.
•
Target
mode
– activates when clicking on a stored position or
when editing a coordinate value.
•
Relative
mode
–
used to move the stage by a given value and to
repeat it several times if needed.
Clicking on the
Go To
button drives the stage to a new location.
This only acts on just-edited coordinates (with a tick mark).
Pressing the Enter key after editing any coordinate value works as
clicking the Go To button. Double-clicking on a stored location
moves the stage to the desired position immediately.
During stage motion, the
Go To
button changes to the
Stop
button,
which stops the stage immediately.
Coordinates X, Y, Z, R, T
Edit boxes for
X, Y, Z, R
and
T
coordinates are filled with the selected
or actual position values. The changed value is automatically ticked.
C a u t i o n !
Danger of hitting the final lens! The Link Z to FWD procedure did not
pass. The red up arrow next the Z axis alerts that the positive Z-axis
stage movement direction is up. It means raising a value in the Z axis
edit box causes moving the stage up towards the final lens.
After running the
Link Z to FWD
procedure the symbol and the
stage movements direction change. The black down arrow next
to the Z axis indicates the positive Z-axis stage movement
direction is down.
The
units of measure follow the
Preferences
/
Units
setting, unless
the
Stage
menu /
User Units
function is active, in which case UU is
shown for X and Y.
The software
locks
prevent inadvertent stage movement of
selected axes during particular applications. The edit boxes for locked axes are disabled
and the stage does not move in these directions. When any or all axes are locked, the
Status
bar shows the closed lock icon.
When any axis is locked and stage movement
is required in that direction (trying to move to
the stored position), a warning dialog appears.
•
When the
Compucentric Rotation
check box
is ticked, the
R
coordinate operates as the
Compucentric Rotation function (see
further) and does not physical rotate the
stage.
•
When the
Z-Y Link
check box is ticked and
the stage is tilted, the system
compensates for the observed point of
interest shifting during stage movement, which allows making a Z-axis move with a tilted stage while keeping
the point of interest in the field of view. This makes it much easier when imaging with the electron beam at
shorter working distances to accurately switch to the eucentric position.
