Nikita Bernier wrote:

John Wong wrote: Nikita Bernier wrote: John Wong wrote: Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 12:24 The HP-SIS SiC target was made on Nov 03, 2010.  The target consists of 405 discs, 18.5cm in length.  It was sintered in the Evaporator#1.  This target is going into Evap#2 for re-conditioning.  It is currently being pumped down.    Friday, May 18, 2012, 12:19  The target is wrapped with only one heat shield. Evaporator #2 Target Heater is now auto-ramping at 0.5 A/min, up to 820 A, with the maximum voltage limited at 2 V, between 2.00e-05 (Good vacuum) and 3.00e-05 Torr (Bad vacuum). Tube Heater is auto-ramping at 0.5 A/min, up to 230 A, with the maximum voltage limited at 1 V. See attachments.  Friday, May 18, 2012, 13:15 Increased TBHT voltage to 5V, and TGHT to 15V.  Currently, TBHT =83A, 0.986V, TGHT= 144A, 1.65V, IGP1 = 5.2e-7 Torr, IGP2 = 4.3e-7 Torr.  Continue ramping up...   Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 12:02 TGHT and TBHT were ramped up to 830A/13.65V (local), and 235A/3.85V, respectively.  The target was conditioned over the long weekend.      Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 12:13 Initiating the cool-down process at 5 A/min. See archive plots of the Target Heater (Attachment 1) and the Tube Heater (Attachment 2).

 Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 15:24

TGHT/TBHT were ramped down to 0A.  The target has cooled for about 45 min.  All pumps and chillers are off.  The chamber has been vented.

Nikita Bernier wrote:

Thursday, April 05, 2012, 16:31 Target boat contains 6 BeO pellets : Sample,   Mass (g),   Thickness (mm),   Density (g/cm3) 1   1.2842,    5.406,        1.4647 2   1.2619,    5.150,        1.5108 3   1.2886,    5.316,        1.4946 4   1.2858,    5.310,        1.4931 5   1.3382,    5.520,        1.4948 6   1.3916,    5.650,        1.5187   Samples are made of BeO powder with 30% PVB which was treated at 400 RPM for 26 minutes. A ratio of 1:0.1 of mineral oil was added before another high speed treatment for 10 minutes. The powder was then pressed into pellets. Pellets are loaded on a target boat coated/sintered with TaC. The target boat is wrapped with a Ta foil that is 0.002 inches thick. **** Sintering is postponed until the situation with the ventilation in the lab06 is cleared. ****

 Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 16:44

Target chamber is currently being pumped down. Leak check will be done tomorrow by turning on the cooling water for the heat shield.

Nikita Bernier wrote:

Nikita Bernier wrote: Thursday, April 05, 2012, 16:31 Target boat contains 6 BeO pellets : Sample,   Mass (g),   Thickness (mm),   Density (g/cm3) 1   1.2842,    5.406,        1.4647 2   1.2619,    5.150,        1.5108 3   1.2886,    5.316,        1.4946 4   1.2858,    5.310,        1.4931 5   1.3382,    5.520,        1.4948 6   1.3916,    5.650,        1.5187   Samples are made of BeO powder with 30% PVB which was treated at 400 RPM for 26 minutes. A ratio of 1:0.1 of mineral oil was added before another high speed treatment for 10 minutes. The powder was then pressed into pellets. Pellets are loaded on a target boat coated/sintered with TaC. The target boat is wrapped with a Ta foil that is 0.002 inches thick. **** Sintering is postponed until the situation with the ventilation in the lab06 is cleared. ****    Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 16:44 Target chamber is currently being pumped down. Leak check will be done tomorrow by turning on the cooling water for the heat shield.

 Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 17:38

TGHT was stepped up to about 55A before the auto ramping was initiated.  The vacuum limit parameter was set for good vac at <4.0 e-5 Torr and bad vac at >5.0 e0-5 Torr. 

The pressure is coming close to the trip limit (8.5 e-5 Torr) (see attachment 1: strip tool over the past 5 hours).  Changed the vacuum limit parameter:  good vac =3.0e-5 Torr, bad vac= 4.0e-5 Torr. 

 Saturday, May 26, 2012, 10:44

TGHT is auto ramping up smoothly as the pressure is regulating between 1e-5 to 4 e-5 torr.  (See attachment 2, past 21 hr)

Sunday, May 27, 2012, 12:25  

There could be a power bump  early this morning at 06:30hr, and tripped off the TGHT power supply (see attachment #3).  The computer in the cold lab was found to be off expectedly, so the alarm handler running on that computer was also shut off (*Need a UPS on this computer!)  

Called the ISAC Ops, and  nothing about any power bump around that time was noticed.  

Turned on TGHT p/s and set TGHT at 318A, local at 315A/4.58V.  TGHT has been running for about 10 mins.  Currently vac at 4.2e-7 Torr.  

Sunday, May 27, 2012, 12:35

Initiating TGHT auto ramping... 

 Monday, May 28, 2012, 00:20

TGHT has reached to 600A and will remain at that current for the rest of the night.  The target oven temperature will be measured tomorrow.

See attachment#4 for the striptool over the past 10hr.

 Monday, May 28, 2012, 10:56

TGHT stayed at 600A for about 12 hours.  Pressure gradually came down to 7.6e-7 Torr. (See attachment #5). 

At TGHT=600A, The target boat temperature was measured at 1400C (with the pyrometer), and the Ta-heat shield (1-layer) was at 1050C. [Note: These temperature measurements are very closed to the measurements with an empty LP target (with not heat shield), TGHT @ 600A = 1360C].

Monday, May 28, 2012, 11:04

Due to the water leak from the Evap2 chiller, the system has to be shut off for inspection. 

TGHT was tapped down to 0A.  The target was cooled down for about 20min before the chiller was turned off.

Will continue with the process after the problem is solved...

Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 17:23

New Target boat, with no coating, wrapped with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil, contains 3 NiO pellets :

Sample,   # Disks,    Mass (g),    Thickness (mm)

1    12,  1.9396,  1.938

2    13,  0.9592,  0.847

3    25,  2.6675,  3.06

See John's Ipad for their recipes.

Evaporator #2 is now auto-ramping overnight at 0.5 A/min, up to 580 A, with the maximum voltage limited at 14 V, between 3.00e-05 (Good vacuum) and 4.00e-05 Torr (Bad vacuum).

Thursday, June 21, 2012, 18:14  

See attachment #1, 2 for the density measurements and the graph for the disc thickness  -JW 

Nikita Bernier wrote:

Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 17:23 New Target boat, with no coating, wrapped with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil, contains NiO D-shape discs : Sample,   # Disks,    Mass (g),    Thickness (mm) 1    12,  1.9396,  1.938 2    13,  0.9592,  0.847 3    25,  2.6675,  3.06 See John's Ipad for their recipes. Evaporator #2 is now auto-ramping overnight at 0.5 A/min, up to 580 A, with the maximum voltage limited at 14 V, between 3.00e-05 (Good vacuum) and 4.00e-05 Torr (Bad vacuum).

Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 22:28

TGHT tripped off at 78A due to high out-gassing pressure.  The current was tapped down to 75A before it was turned back on. 

Changed ramping rate from 0.5A/min to 0.2A/min.  

Initiate auto-ramping... 

 Thursday, June 21, 2012, 08:35

Vacuum has come down to 7e-7 as TGHT is being ramped up at 0.2A/min. (see attachment#1).

Increase TGHT rate to 2A/min.

The temperature should be measured when the heater gets up to around 500A.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 15:45

Target boat is filled with TaC coated regular- and D-endcaps. 

The boat is wrapped with a Ta heat-shield. 

Chamber is being pumped down, currently at 5e-6 Torr.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 15:58

Heat-shield cooling water valve opened; no leaks detected.

Initiated TGHT auto-ramping at 0.5A/min, set TGHT max at 580A.

 Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 10:44

Yesterday evening, the target heater tripped off a few times due to high vacuum excursion.  The TGHT ramping rate was low to 0.2A/min.  The current was ramped up sturdily to 500A this morning.  

Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 10:46

Increased ramping rate to 2A/min.  Vacuum currently at 2.2e-6 Torr.

 Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 16:18

TGHt has reached to 580A and stayed for about 5 hrs. 

Cooling down in process...  2A/min for TGHT --> 0A.

 Thursday, July 19, 2012, 10:31

TGHT reached to 0A. 

Evaporator is off. 

Venting chamber... 

Thursday, July 19, 2012, 16:58

The target container was coated with TaC. 

It's wrapped with 3 layers of Ta as the heat-shield, including the backblock.

TGHT will be ramped up to 580A at 0.2A/min.

TBHT will be ramped up to 230A at 0.2A/min.

Currently, IGP1 = 1.5e-6 Torr.  BP = 15mTorr

 Friday, July 20, 2012, 13:56

TGHT and TBHT reached to 580A & 230A, respectively, and stayed for ~ 2hrs. 

Measured temperature at the ionizer tube to be 1630C.

Cooling down in process at 2A/min...

 Sunday, July 22, 2012, 20:53

The chamber was vented earlier around 14:00hr.  

The target container looks good! 

 Sunday, July 22, 2012, 20:30

The NiO target materials were loaded into the container today.  

Total discs = 500, (10 discs/pack) 

length (after loaded) = 9.0cm 

Target container is wrapped with Ta-heat shields, and will be removed after the sintering process. 

One regular end cap is inserted (with Ni-foil inserted as a divider).  The caps, however, are very loose (tried 2 caps and still loose).  Hopefully the thermo diffusion bonding will seal the cap... 

The other end is inserted with a D-cap for out-gassing proposes, and will be replaced with the regular end-cap after the process. 

(see attachment#1)

Sunday, July 22, 2012, 20:48 

The camber has been pumped down and currently IG1=1.3e-6 Torr.

The HS cooling water was turned on and no leaks were detected.  

TGHT and TBHT were stepped up to 50A. 

Auto-ramping is initiated at 0.2A/min for TGHT max = 250A, TBHT max = 230A. 

 Thursday, July 26, 2012, 23:31

TGHT and TBHT have reached to 250A (local @ 242A/2.88V) and 230A, respectively, and have stayed for ~4hrs (see attachment#2)  

Currently, IGP1 = 4.9e-7 Torr, IGP2 = 3.5e-7 Torr, CG1B = 13mTorr. 

Initiating auto-cool down at 2A/min.  

 Monday, July 30, 2012, 15:11

The chamber was vented and the target was removed.

There was significant condensation oily fluid coated Cu-heatshield lid and around the ionizer opening.

Overall, the target looks very good.  The NiO target material was nicely sintered.  No shrinkage or loose particles were observed (see attachment #3).

The endcap, however, was not properly fitted and it just fell off, (see attachment #4). 

Both ends of the target are currently opened; the expension tool for the endcap is in order and hopefully this will solve the problem.

The target is being stored in the fumehood

 Friday, August 10, 2012, 19:54

Target boat with TaC coating, inside covered with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil, wrapped with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil, contains a Ta foil with TaO coating.

See John's Ipad for their recipes.

Evaporator #2 is now auto-ramping overnight at 0.2 A/min, up to 830 A, with the maximum voltage limited at 14 V, between 2.00e-05 (Good vacuum) and 3.00e-05 Torr (Bad vacuum).

Nikita Bernier wrote:

Friday, August 10, 2012, 19:54   Target boat with TaC coating, inside covered with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil, wrapped with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil, contains a Ta foil with TaO coating. See John's Ipad for their recipes. Evaporator #2 is now auto-ramping overnight at 0.2 A/min, up to 830 A, with the maximum voltage limited at 14 V, between 2.00e-05 (Good vacuum) and 3.00e-05 Torr (Bad vacuum).

 Saturday, August 11, 2012, 19:15

Heating process was going smoothly up to 400 A. See Attachment 1.

Around 420 A, vacuum went up again and the voltage increased more quickly. It seems like resistance is building up. After reaching 530 A, the current was tapped down to 420 A in an effort to save the Ta boat. See Attachment 2.

The current will stay at 420 A for the weekend until John takes a look at this.

Nikita Bernier wrote:

Nikita Bernier wrote:  Friday, August 10, 2012, 19:54   Target boat with TaC coating, inside covered with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil, wrapped with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil, contains a Ta foil with TaO coating. See John's Ipad for their recipes. Evaporator #2 is now auto-ramping overnight at 0.2 A/min, up to 830 A, with the maximum voltage limited at 14 V, between 2.00e-05 (Good vacuum) and 3.00e-05 Torr (Bad vacuum).    Saturday, August 11, 2012, 19:15 Heating process was going smoothly up to 400 A. See Attachment 1. Around 420 A, vacuum went up again and the voltage increased more quickly. It seems like resistance is building up. After reaching 530 A, the current was tapped down to 420 A in an effort to save the Ta boat. See Attachment 2. The current will stay at 420 A for the weekend until John takes a look at this.

 Monday, August 13, 2012, 13:46

 TGHT was ramped down at 2 A/min and then tapped down to 0A. See Attachment 1.  The target boat will be cooled down for about an hour before turning off the chiller.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 15:44

This SiC target was prepared in May 2011 with the Evaporator#1.  The target will not used for online. 

Two endcaps were inserted with the new expansion tool.  The target will be heated up to the normal operating condition (TGHT =580A, TBHT = 230A). 

The chamber is currently being pumped down. 

 Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 16:21

Earlier, the Cu-heat shield was removed from the evaporator to replace the insulators, so all the seals were placed with new ones.  However,

there seems to be some leaks after the HS cooling water is turned on.  (see attachment#1).

The TP off, and the chamber is vented for investigation.

 Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 17:25

All the 3 seals for the Cu-heat shield were replaced.  The chamber has been pumped down and the HS water valve is open.  No leaks are detected.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 17:29

Initiated auto-ramping at 2A/min for both TGHT and TBHT.

Parameter constraints: good vac @ 2.0e-5 Torr, bad vac @ 3.0e-5 Torr.

Currently, IG1 @ 6.5e-6 Torr.

 Wednesday, August 15, 2012, 09:52

TGHT and TBHT have reached to 520A and 230A, respectively, and have stayed at the currents for about 10 hours. (see attachment #2) 

IG is currently at 7.7e-7 Torr.  

Initiating auto-cool down at 2A/min. 

 Thursday, August 16, 2012, 11:23

Chamber is vented.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 17:25

Note:  LP-FEBIAD target container ( W.O#37918-3) was coated with TaC and sintered on July 19 for UCx#5 target.  Then, a last minute request from the Sci Dev. to run the UCx#5 in LP-SIS. 

The target container was coated with TaC  (Using IR heat lamp to speed the drying time)

It's wrapped with 3 layers of Ta as the heat-shield, including the backblock.

TGHT will be ramped up to 580A at 0.5A/min.

TBHT will be ramped up to 230A at 0.5A/min.

Chamber is currently being pumped down.

 Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 18:27

Chamber was pumped down to 5.4e-6 Torr; the HS cooling water valve was opened and no leaks were detected.

Stepped up TGHT/TBHT to 20A.

Initiated auto-ramping...

 Friday, August 24, 2012, 00:21

TGHT/TBHT have reached to 580A/230A, respectively, and have remained at the currents for ~10hrs.

Current, IG1 is at 9.3e-7 torr.  The sintering process is done.

Initiating auto-cool down at 2A/min.

 Friday, August 24, 2012, 13:31

TGHT & TBHT power supplies are off.

The chamber is vented.

 Monday, September 24, 2012, 15:01

The target boat with TaC coating is being used again. The inside of the boat is covered with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil with TaC coating, wrapped with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil.

Chamber was pumped down to 6e-6 Torr before the Heat Shield cooling water valve was opened. A small vacuum bump was detected (See attachment #1). It is not clear if it was caused by a water leak or not.

After consulting with Peter, I will wait for the vacuum to be below e-07 Torr before turning the target heater on.

Nikita Bernier wrote:

Monday, September 24, 2012, 15:01 The target boat with TaC coating is being used again. The inside of the boat is covered with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil with TaC coating, wrapped with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil. Chamber was pumped down to 6e-6 Torr before the Heat Shield cooling water valve was opened. A small vacuum bump was detected (See attachment #1). It is not clear if it was caused by a water leak or not. After consulting with Peter, I will wait for the vacuum to be below e-07 Torr before turning the target heater on.

 Monday, September 24, 2012, 18:02

The vacuum was stable until 1e-06 Torr. The target heater was turned on and tapped up to 60 A (0.8 V). 

Evaporator #2 is now auto-ramping overnight at 0.2 A/min, up to 800-850 A, with the maximum voltage limited at 14 V, between 2.00e-05 (Good vacuum) and 3.00e-05 Torr (Bad vacuum). 

 Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 15:11

Sintering process is going smoothly. See Attachment 1. The auto-ramping was increased to 1 A/min up to 800-850 A.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 16:11 

And the voltage limit was increased to 18 V ! See Attachment 2.

 Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 19:13

Around 806 A (readback), voltage increased more quickly than the current. It seems like resistance is building up. After reaching 836 A (readback), the current was tapped down to 800 A (readback)/ 816 A (setting) in an effort to save the Ta boat. See Attachment 3. The current will stay at 800 A for ~4 hours before ramping down.

Nikita Bernier wrote:

Nikita Bernier wrote:  Monday, September 24, 2012, 15:01 The target boat with TaC coating is being used again. The inside of the boat is covered with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil with TaC coating, wrapped with a 0.002 inches thick Ta foil. Chamber was pumped down to 6e-6 Torr before the Heat Shield cooling water valve was opened. A small vacuum bump was detected (See attachment #1). It is not clear if it was caused by a water leak or not. After consulting with Peter, I will wait for the vacuum to be below e-07 Torr before turning the target heater on.        Monday, September 24, 2012, 18:02 The vacuum was stable until 1e-06 Torr. The target heater was turned on and tapped up to 60 A (0.8 V).  Evaporator #2 is now auto-ramping overnight at 0.2 A/min, up to 800-850 A, with the maximum voltage limited at 14 V, between 2.00e-05 (Good vacuum) and 3.00e-05 Torr (Bad vacuum).     Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 15:11 Sintering process is going smoothly. See Attachment 1. The auto-ramping was increased to 1 A/min up to 800-850 A.     Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 16:11  And the voltage limit was increased to 18 V ! See Attachment 2.    Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 19:13 Around 806 A (readback), voltage increased more quickly than the current. It seems like resistance is building up. After reaching 836 A (readback), the current was tapped down to 800 A (readback)/ 816 A (setting) in an effort to save the Ta boat. See Attachment 3. The current will stay at 800 A for ~4 hours before ramping down.

 Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 14:31

The current was tapped down twice as resistance was building up. After 4 hours at ~800 A, the TGHT was ramped down at 2 A/min. See Attachment 1. The target boat was cooled down for 4 hours before the chiller was turned off.

Also I had trouble measuring the temperature. I was unable to get a clear picture with the pyrometer. Therefore the exact temperature remains unknown, but from previous experiments, 800 A was about 1400°C.

The TaC coated Ta foil is very brittle. There is a lot of crystallisation on the Ta boat. See attachment 2. It is unlikely that the boat would survive many more sintering. Therefore it will be used for BeO pellets tests. 

When John gets back, I suggest we use a new boat coated with TaC, without additional layers. (See message #15 when this target boat was sintered up to 900A (local 893A/16.88V), Measured temp @ 1500°C)

 Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 15:07

The samples were made of BeO powder with 30% PVB which was treated at 400 RPM for 26 minutes. A ratio of 10:1 of mineral oil was added before another high speed treatment for 10 minutes. The powder was then pressed into pellets.

Three pellets were loaded on the target boat coated with TaC, with an extra layer of TaC coated Ta foil. See Attachment 1. The target boat is wrapped with a Ta foil that is 0.002 inches thick.

Target chamber was pumped down. The cooling water was turned on and no leak were observed.

TGHT was stepped up to 55A before the auto ramping was initiated at 0.5 A/min.  The vacuum limit parameter was set for good vac at <3.0 e-5 Torr and bad vac at >4.0 e0-5 Torr.  

Nikita Bernier wrote:

Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 15:07   The samples were made of BeO powder with 30% PVB which was treated at 400 RPM for 26 minutes. A ratio of 10:1 of mineral oil was added before another high speed treatment for 10 minutes. The powder was then pressed into pellets. Three pellets were loaded on the target boat coated with TaC, with an extra layer of TaC coated Ta foil. See Attachment 1. The target boat is wrapped with a Ta foil that is 0.002 inches thick. Target chamber was pumped down. The cooling water was turned on and no leak were observed. TGHT was stepped up to 55A before the auto ramping was initiated at 0.5 A/min.  The vacuum limit parameter was set for good vac at <3.0 e-5 Torr and bad vac at >4.0 e0-5 Torr.

 Friday, September 28, 2012, 12:50

Sintering was coming up smoothly. As expected, resistance started building up quickly at higher temperatures (above 600°C). See Attachment 1. The target heater tripped off twice this morning. I was able to ramp up the current after the first trip until it tripped again. After the second time, the voltage went crazy and I had to ramp down the current. Attachment 2 shows the whole process.

Evap2 will be vented out shortly and the pellets will be examined.

Friday, September 28, 2012, 15:52  

 The boat comes in two parts. One pellet is missing. The two remaining pellets are black and grey. Also they shrank a lot. See Attachment 3.

So once again, a new batch of BeO pellets will have to be prepared and sintered in order to determine the dimensions of the final die. Therefore the best approach is still loading the pellets on a target boat coated/sintered with TaC and wrapped with a Ta foil.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012, 16:35

Target container is coated with TaC.  No Ta-heat shields are used.

TGHT will be ramped up to 580A at 0.2A/min.

TBHT will be ramped up to 230A at 0.2A/min.

Chamber is currently being pumped down

 Wednesday, October 10, 2012, 17:31

Chamber was pumped down to mid 10-6 Torr.  HS water valve was opened and no leak in vacuum was observed.

TGHT and TBHT were stepped up to 30A.  Everything seems fine...

Initiated auto-ramping:  Good vac = 2.0e-5 torr, Bad Vac = 3.0e-5 Torr. 

 Thursday, October 11, 2012, 10:35

TBHT has reached to 230A, 3.52V. 

TGHT has reached to 232A.  Vacuum is stabilizing at 8.0e-7 Torr, BP at 19 mTorr. 

Increased TGHT ramping rate to 2.0A/min. 

 Thursday, October 11, 2012, 14:55

TGHT reached to 580A/9.95V, local 575A/10.03V. 

TGHT at 230A/3.62V

Local target container temperature measured at ~1430C, central block at ~1220C

IGP1 currently at 1.68e-6 Torr. 

Heaters will be remained on for another 2 hours or so before auto-cooling is initiated.

 Thursday, October 11, 2012, 17:49

Target container has been heated for over 4 hrs.

IGP1 @ 1.10e-6 Torr, BP @ 18mTorr

Auto-cooling initiated, rate @ 2A/min.

 Friday, October 12, 2012, 10:02

TBHT/TGHT have reached to zero current. 

P/S off.

Venting chamber..

see attachment#1: striptool archiver

 Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 10:35

Container looks good.  It will be used for TiC#3

Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 14:12

Target is filled with 360 discs of TiC (with 1 mole of graphite) backed on C-grv foil.  

No Ta heat-shields wrapped around the container.

One regular end-cap is inserted and expanded.  The other end is inserted with a D-cap for out-gassing.

Re ionizer foil is inserted.

TGHT will be ramped up to 580A, TBHT to 230A; ramping rate at 0.2A/min.

Chamber is currently being pumped down...

 Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 16:11

HS water valve is opened.  No leaks is detected.

Vacuum is coming down steadily.  IGP1 currently at 1.7e-5 Torr.

 Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 11:41

The chamber was pumped down overnight.  IGP1 reads at 5.8e-7 Torr.

Both TGHT & TBHT were stepped up to 30A. P/S OK! 

Initiated auto-ramping...

Monday, October 22, 2012, 10:58

TGHT and TBHT have reached to 580A & 230A, respectively (see attachment#1).

IGP1 currently at 6.27e-6 Torr.  BP@20mTorr.

Currents will remain at max for another 3 hours. 

Local temperature measured at 1500C (container surface), 1300C (center block)

 Monday, October 22, 2012, 17:27

Auto cooling initiated.

 Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 17:54

TGHT & TBHT are at 0A.  P/S & pumps off. 

The chamber will be vented, and the target will be taken out for inspections.