Test and Measurement - Electrostatic products

Electrostatic instruments

An electrostatic instrument is a term for devices used to measure, among other things, AC and DC voltage, electrostatic discharge, or surface resistivity. The integrity of products and components can be compromised due to Electrical Overstress (EOS) conditions or by Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) events. Our strategic partners' products measure electrostatic voltage/charge with certainty to identify the presence or absence of EOS conditions, thereby enabling control of EOS and ESD without compromise.

Our electrostatic instruments are ideally suited for use in critical operations associated with electrophotography, semiconductor, LCD, and other processes where voltages need to be precisely measured and controlled for process optimisation, or where charge accumulation (and electrostatic discharge events) pose a threat to production yields or product quality. By placing these instruments online within a process, real-time feedback and control are possible, unlike contact-measurement instruments.

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Test and Measurement - Electrostatic_Charge_plate_monitors

Charged plate monitors

Charged plate monitors are premier instruments for evaluating the performance of air ionisation systems. Our charged plate monitors have the ability to store test data, test time and date, the particular ioniser from which the data was obtained, and waveforms for hundreds of ioniser tests.

These charged plate monitors are suitable for semiconductors, disk drives, LCDs, and many other manufacturing environments that are sensitive to static charge. It can be used to test all types of ionisers including room ionisation systems, AC and DC blowers, nuclear ionisers, gun-type ionisers, and pulsed DC ionisers. They are also useful in material evaluation for testing dissipative qualities.

Test and Measurement - Electrostatic - Chuck_power_supplies

Chuck power supplies

Our software-driven electrostatic chuck power supplies offer an array of features that provide significant benefits while accommodating a variety of demanding applications. Documented use shows that customers have seen increases in efficiency and throughput equal to three times that of other supplies. Additionally, our models virtually eliminate sticky wafer and wafer popping issues, thus ensuring better control over particle contamination.

The lockable front panel interface of these amplifiers/supplies optimises many processes by enabling the operator to control parameters such as over-current, wafer-present, and wafer-clamped thresholds, clamp voltage, offset voltage, and internal or external amplitude/offset control. The dynamic features also enable electrostatic chuck profiles to be uploaded to the unit via a user-friendly software interface. The profiles, which are stored internally using non-volatile memory, are used to effectively chuck and de-chuck the wafer. Both Coulombic and Johnsen-Rahbek electrostatic chuck technologies are supported.

Given the versatility of electrostatic chuck power supplies and its dial-in performance, the unit can be used in multiple unique tools/processes, therefore, eliminating the need to specify a new supply for each unique tool/process in a facility.

Test and Measurement - Electrostatic products - probes

Probes

Our strategic partner’s patented design of probes provides the largest possible signal strength to reduce noise and drift and to maintain optimum performance at wider probe-to-surface distances. Electrostatic voltmeter probes can be placed extremely close to, but separated from, the surface being measured. Driving the potential of the probe body to the same potential as the measured unknown achieves a high-accuracy measurement virtually insensitive to variations in probe-to-surface distances while preventing arc-over between the probe and measured surface, virtually eliminating any capacitive loading effects on the probe.

Test and Measurement  Electrostatic - Resistivity-Instruments

Resistivity instruments and testers

Surface/volume resistance meters are designed to precisely measure surface or volume resistance on a wide variety of conductive, dissipative, and insulative materials. They employ a measurement technique that conforms to ANSI/ESD Association standards for measuring surface resistance, resistivity, and volume resistance including STM2.1 for garments, STM4.1 for work surfaces, STM7.1 for flooring, STM9.1 for footwear, STM11.11 for planer materials, STM11.12 for volume resistance (IEC 61340-2-3), STM12.1 for seating, STM11.13 for two-point resistance measurement, and STM97.1 for floor materials/footwear. A variety of measuring probe electrode configurations are also available.

Test and Measurement - Electrostatic voltmeters

Electrostatic voltmeters

The idea behind an electrostatic voltmeter is voltage measurement without charge transfer or measured source loading. For instance, being able to accurately measure the surface potential (voltage) on any kind of material surface without physical contact, therefore means no charge transfer or loading of the material/surface is required in many applications.

In these sensitive applications, it’s not possible to make accurate voltage measurements using conventional contacting voltmeters because they require charge transfer to the voltmeter, which causes loading and modification of the source voltage. For example, when measuring the voltage distribution on a dielectric surface, any measurement technique that requires charge transfer, no matter how small, will modify or destroy the actual data.

Our electrostatic voltmeters deliver DC-stable voltage measurement without having to touch the test surface, meaning it’s possible to measure any surface, even moving surfaces, with no charge transfer from the surface. This translates to no modification of the measured voltage.

Power Supply Technology Centre

The ability of our engineers to continually deliver leading edge custom power supply solutions to you is propelled by the Power Supply Technology Centre.

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Every device needs power but with a huge variety of features and specifications available it can be difficult to determine the right product for you. With this service, the possibilities are endless.

Whether you’re looking to modify or configure a standard product, integrate it into a custom design, or design and modify a rack, chassis or PCB - we can support with the design, manufacturing, testing and integration of your tailored solution.

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When it comes to developing custom solutions for tomorrow's technologies, we trust our approach to deliver the best possible outcome.

Our engineers will skilfully guide you through each stage of your project, working with you to understand and identify a solution that meets your technical and commercial needs before designing and integrating your solution.

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Our solutions and expertise are centred around six key markets

Over the years we have built up considerable knowledge and knowhow, providing tailored solutions for our customers.

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