JPH10233187A - Quadrupole mass spectrometer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control plural kinds of analysis tubes by one kind of control device and facilitate confirmation of the kind of the analysis tube for connection between the analysis tubes and the control device by providing identification mechanisms for identifying the kinds of the analysis tubes in the analysis tubes and the control device and setting various parameters corresponding to the identified analysis tubes in a data processor or the like. SOLUTION: For identifying an analysis tube 2, based on a command (a) from a data processor 4, an identification circuit in a control device 3 obtains an encoding signal (b) from an identification mechanism provide in the detecting means 5 of the analysis tube 2 and identifies the connected analysis tube 2. Then, the identifying signal (c) of the analysis tube 2 is sent to the data processor 4 and the kind of the connected analysis tube 2 is notified. The data processor 4 reads a data processing parameter corresponding to the notified kind of the analysis tube 2 from a parameter table 42 and sets this as a processing parameter 41. Also, the control device 3 sets a control parameter corresponding to the kind of the analysis tube 2 as a control parameter 31.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a quadrupole mass spectrometer used for analyzing mass spectra and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A quadrupole mass spectrometer is a device for analyzing a chemical composition of a substance by separating ionized particles according to a mass-charge ratio using an electric field, and performing qualitative analysis of a sample from a peak position of a mass spectrum. Perform quantitative analysis based on peak intensity.

FIGS. 11 and 13 are views for explaining the configuration of a conventional quadrupole mass spectrometer. Generally, a quadrupole mass spectrometer includes an analysis tube 2, a control device 3, and a data processing device 4, and the quadrupole mass spectrometer shown in FIG. 11 has a configuration in which the analysis tube 2 and the control device 3 are integrated. The example and the quadrupole mass spectrometer shown in FIG. 13 are configuration examples in which the analysis tube 2 and the control device 3 are separated.

Normally, the analysis tube 2 includes an ionization chamber 21, a quadrupole electrode 22, and an ion detector 23. The ions emitted from the ionization chamber 21 are selected by the quadrupole electrode 22 and detected by the ion detector 23. The control device 3 includes a power supply circuit and a control circuit (not shown), and performs condition setting and control of the analysis tube 2. Further, the data processing device 4 performs data processing of the measurement result measured by the analysis tube 2.

[0005] The quadrupole mass spectrometer having the configuration shown in FIG.
The analysis tube 2 and the control device 3 are integrally connected, and a measurement signal is sent to the data processing device 4 through the cable 8. FIG.
The configuration of the quadrupole mass spectrometer shown in FIG.
Are separated, and a connection signal 9 is connected to a head unit 6 provided on the analysis tube 2 side, whereby a measurement signal is sent to the data processing device 4 through a cable 8.

The analysis tubes 2 are classified into several types according to the mass range to be measured and the pressure at the time of measurement. The control device 3 is used to control the RF voltage, DC voltage, etc. applied to the analysis tubes 2 in the analysis. Different parameters are set according to the type of the analysis tube 2.

[0007] The data processing device 4 also changes parameters for data processing according to the type of the analysis tube 2.

[0008]

The main applications of the above quadrupole mass spectrometer include gas analysis during film formation in semiconductor manufacturing equipment and residual gas analysis during high vacuum evacuation. When a quadrupole mass spectrometer is used for such a purpose, the analysis cannot be performed using only one type of analysis tube 2 because the measurement target is different. Therefore, a plurality of types of analysis tubes 2 may be connected to an apparatus to be measured such as one semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an example of use of a conventional quadrupole mass spectrometer, and shows a case where the analysis tube and the control device shown in FIG. 13 are separated. The analysis tubes 2A, 2B, 2C corresponding to the respective portions are connected to the respective portions 10A, 10B, 10C of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 10, and the connection device and the control devices 3A, 3B, 3C, and further connected to the data processing device 4 by a cable 8. However, the above configuration has a problem that the number of control devices increases because a control device must be connected to each analysis tube.

In FIG. 14, analysis tubes 2A, 2B, 2C corresponding to the respective parts are connected to the respective parts 10A, 10B, 10C of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 10, and provided in accordance with the parts to be analyzed. The connection with the control device 3 and the data processing device 4 is performed by connecting the connection terminal 9 to the analysis tube. According to this configuration, the measurement can be performed on a plurality of analysis tubes by one control device 3, and the above-described problem can be solved to reduce the number of control devices.

However, in the quadrupole mass spectrometer configured as described above, when one type of control device is used in common for a plurality of types of analysis tubes, operation such as confirmation of the type of analysis tubes and change of parameters at the time of connection is performed. Has to be performed every time switching is performed.

For this reason, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus has a configuration in which a control device is connected to each of the analysis tubes even when the analysis tubes are used infrequently, such as when the analysis tubes are used for analysis performed after the maintenance of the device.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional quadrupole mass spectrometer, and provides a quadrupole mass spectrometer capable of controlling a plurality of types of analysis tubes with one type of control device. It is another object of the present invention to provide a quadrupole mass spectrometer that can easily confirm the type of an analysis tube and set various parameters in connection between the analysis tube and a control device.

[0014]

According to the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention, an identification mechanism for identifying the type of the analysis tube is provided in the analysis tube and the control device, and the identification tube is identified by the identification mechanism. Various parameters corresponding to the type are selected and set in the control device and the data processing device.
The object of the present invention is achieved.

The quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention has an analysis tube, a control device for controlling the analysis tube,
And a quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with a data processing device, the analysis tube is provided with an identification portion indicating the type of the analysis tube,
The control device is provided with identification means for identifying the identification site, and at least one of the control device and the data processing device is provided with a function of selecting and setting a parameter corresponding to the type of the analysis tube identified by the identification means.

According to the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention, by connecting the control device to the analysis tube, it becomes possible to recognize the identification portion on the analysis tube side by the identification means on the control device side. When the identification means of the control device recognizes the identification site, it identifies the type of the connected analysis tube. After the identification of the analysis tube, the control unit and / or the data processing unit,
Select the parameter corresponding to the identified tube type,
Make settings. Thus, the type of the connected analysis tube and the setting of various parameters can be automatically performed only by connecting the control device to the analysis tube.

The first embodiment of the present invention is provided with storage means for storing a plurality of types of parameters corresponding to the types of analysis tubes in advance, and selects parameters corresponding to the identified analysis tubes from the storage means. And read and set the control device and / or data processing device.

In the second embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of parameters corresponding to the type of the analysis tube include a control parameter for setting in the control device and a processing parameter for setting in the data processing device. .

According to a third embodiment of the present invention, a storage means for storing parameters is provided only in the data processing device, and a control parameter corresponding to the identified analysis tube is sent to the control device.
The processing parameters corresponding to the identified analysis tube are set in the data processing device.

According to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, a storage device for storing control parameters is provided in the control device, a storage device for storing processing parameters is provided in the control device, and the control parameters corresponding to the identified analysis tubes are controlled. The processing parameters are set in the apparatus and the processing parameters corresponding to the identified analysis tube are set in the data processing apparatus.

According to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, the identification mechanism includes a mechanical identification means using a microswitch or the like and an identification portion which can be recognized by the identification means. The identification mechanism includes a coded short-circuit line corresponding to the analysis tube, and a detection circuit that detects and identifies the analysis tube from the short-circuit state. It includes a resistor having a resistance value corresponding to the analysis tube and a detection circuit for identifying and identifying the analysis tube from the resistance value.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. A first configuration example according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the schematic block diagram of FIG. In FIG. 1, a quadrupole mass spectrometer 1 includes an analysis tube 2, a control device 3, and a data processing device 4.
The analysis tube 2 and the control device 3 are connected by a cable 7, and the control device 3 and the data processing device 4 are connected by a cable 8.

The analysis tube 2 comprises an ionization chamber 21 and a quadrupole electrode 2
2 and an ion detector 23. The ions emitted from the ionization chamber 21 are selected by the quadrupole electrode 22 and detected by the ion detector 23. The control device 3 includes a power supply circuit and a control circuit (not shown), and is a device for setting and controlling the conditions of the analysis tube 2. Control parameters 31 required for control are set in the control circuit. This control parameter 31
Is read and set from various control parameters stored in a storage means such as a built-in parameter table 32. The storage means has a plurality of types of control corresponding to the analysis tube 2 connected thereto. Parameter values are stored in advance.

The data processing device 4 includes a power supply circuit and a processing circuit (not shown), and performs data processing of the measurement results measured by the analysis tube 2. The processing circuit includes processing parameters 41 required for processing. Is set. The processing parameters 41 are read and set from various processing parameters stored in storage means such as a built-in parameter table 42, and correspond to the analysis tube 2 connected to the storage means. A plurality of types of processing parameter values are stored in advance.

The connection between the analysis tube 2 and the control device 3 can be made via a cable 7 as shown in FIG. 1 or directly without using the cable 7. When the connection is made using the cable 7, the connection can be made via the head unit 6 provided at the end of the cable 7.
Further, the analysis tube 2 includes a head unit 6 and a cable 7.
And a detection unit 5 for identifying the type of the analysis tube 2 to be connected, while being connected to the control device 3 directly or via the control unit 3.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining detection means that can be used in the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention.

The discriminating mechanism shown in FIG. 2A performs mechanical discrimination. The discriminating portion 51 is provided on the detecting means 5 and the microswitch 34 for discriminating the discriminating portion 51 is provided on the control device 3 side. I have. The identification portion 51 is formed by encoding according to the type of the analysis tube 2, and the microswitch 34 outputs a signal corresponding to the code of the identification portion 51.

The identification circuit 35 in the control device 3 receives this signal, decodes the code, and identifies the type of the analysis tube 2 to be connected.

The identification mechanism shown in FIGS. 2 (b) and 2 (c) performs electrical identification. The identification means includes a terminal 53 and a short-circuit wire 54 or a resistance wire 55 connecting the terminal 53 to the detection means 5. A part is provided, and a terminal 37 is provided on the control device 3 side to be electrically connected to the terminal 53 of the identification part. The identification portion encodes the position of the terminal 53 to which the short-circuit wire 54 is connected in accordance with the type of the analysis tube, or determines the resistance value of the resistance wire 55 in accordance with the type of the analysis tube, thereby connecting the analysis portion. Tubes can be identified. The head unit 6
The terminal 37 is electrically connected to the terminal 53 on the detecting means 5 side,
A signal corresponding to the code of the identification part is obtained. The identification circuit in the control device 3 receives this signal and decodes the code to identify the type of the analysis tube 2 to be connected.

Next, the process of identifying an analytical tube in the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

First, an analysis tube 2 to be used for measurement is selected, and a control device 3 is connected to the analysis tube 2 (step S).
1) Further, the controller 3 is connected to the data processor 4 to configure the quadrupole mass spectrometer 1 (step S2).

After constructing the quadrupole mass spectrometer 1, the data processing / measurement 4 sends a command (a in FIG. 1) to the control device 3 to perform the analysis tube identification process (step S3). The control device 3 obtains an encoded signal (b in FIG. 1) by an identification mechanism provided in the detection means 5 based on this command, and identifies the connected analysis tube by processing such as decoding of the code. Perform (Step S4). Further, the control device 3 sends an identification signal of the analysis tube to the data processing device 4 (c in FIG. 1), and notifies the type of the connected analysis tube 2 (step S5).

The data processing device 5 sends the notified analysis tube 2
Is read from the parameter table 42 and set as the processing parameter 41 in the processing circuit (not shown) (d in FIG. 1) (step S).
6).

The control device 3 reads out control parameters corresponding to the type of the analysis tube 2 from the parameter table 32 and sets them in the control parameters 31 in a control circuit (not shown) (e, f in FIG. 1) (step S7). ).

Thereafter, the data processing device 5 completes the identification process and notifies the display device or other device (not shown) of the type of the analysis tube (step S8).

Next, a second configuration example of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the schematic block diagram of FIG.
The configuration example shown in FIG. 5 is substantially the same as the first configuration example shown in FIG. 1, and is different from the first configuration example in that the parameter table 42 is provided only in the data processing device 4. The parameter table 42 stores both processing parameters and control parameters. Therefore, the control parameters stored in the parameter table 42 in the data processing device 4 are used for setting the control parameters for the control device 3.

The process for identifying an analysis tube in the second configuration example is substantially the same as the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 except for step S7. Therefore, step S7 will be described below with reference to FIG.

The data processing device 4 reads the control parameters from the parameter table 42 and sends them to the control device 3 (g in FIG. 5) (step S7a). The control device 3 receives the transmitted control parameters and sets the control parameters 31 in a control circuit (not shown) (step S7).
a). As a result, both the control parameter and the processing parameter can be set in one parameter table.

Next, an example of use of the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 show the case where the type of the analysis tube to be measured is switched by mechanically switching the connection relation of the lines to the plurality of analysis tubes, and FIG. This is a case in which the types of analysis tubes to be measured are switched by connecting them with book lines and electrically switching the connection relationship between them.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which the control device 3 is directly connected to the analysis tube 2. In FIG. 6, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 10 includes:
A plurality of types of chambers are provided according to the respective processes, and analysis tubes 2 (2A, 2B, 2C) corresponding to the measurement conditions of the respective sites are connected to the respective sites 10A, 10B, 10C of the chambers. For such a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 10,
When the analysis tube 2A for measuring the site 10A is used, the control device 3 is connected to the analysis tube 2A and the detection means 5A in the analysis tube 2A. At this time, the control parameters of the control device 3 and the processing parameters of the data processing device 4 are automatically set by the above operation.

Further, when the analysis tube is switched to perform measurement of another part, the connection of the line to the analysis tube and the control device is switched. Also in this connection switching, control parameters and processing parameters are automatically set.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the connection between the analysis tube 2 and the control device 3 is performed using the connector 9 and the cable 7. In this example as well, similarly to the example of FIG. 6, by connecting the connector 9 to the head unit 6A and the detecting means 5A in the head unit 6A, the control parameters of the control device 3 and the processing parameters of the data processing device 4 become: Set automatically.

In the connection example shown in FIG. 8, one control device is connected to the analysis tube by a plurality of lines, and the connection relationship is electrically switched according to a command from the data processing device to measure the analysis tube. Switch the type. 8A, the analysis tubes 2A, 2B, and 2C are connected to the channels CH1 to CH3 of the control device 3. In FIG. 8B, the analysis tubes 2 are connected to the channels CH1 to CH3 of the control device 3.
The state where C, 2A, and 2B are connected is shown.

The analysis tube identification process according to the connection example of FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. In addition,
The flowchart in FIG. 9 is for a case where an analysis tube to be used is known, and the flowchart in FIG. 10 is for a case where analysis tubes are sequentially switched and used. In the following, the steps common to the flowchart of FIG. 3 will be omitted.

In the flowchart of FIG. 9, after the steps S1 and S2 (step S11), an analysis tube to be used is set (step S12), and an identification process of the analysis tube is instructed in the step S3 (step S13). ).

The control device sends an identification signal to one of the plurality of channels (step S14), and proceeds to steps S4 and S5.
To identify the analysis tube and notify (step S1)
5). If the identified analysis tube is the analysis tube set in step S12, the processes of steps S6, 7, and 8 are performed (step S18), and the identified analysis tube is set in step S12.
If the tube is not the analysis tube set in step (1), the channel is switched (step S17), and steps S14, S15, and
16 is performed.

In the flowchart of FIG.
After steps S1, S2, and S3 (step S21),
The control device sends an identification signal to one of the plurality of channels (step S22), sets an analysis tube to be used for the channel (step S12), and proceeds to steps S4, S5, S6, S7, and S4.
In step S8, the analysis tube is identified.
23).

By performing the processing of steps S21, S22, and S23 while switching all the channels (steps S24 and S25), the parameters can be automatically set for all the analysis tubes and the analysis can be performed.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the control device and the data processing device can automatically set parameters corresponding to the type of the identified analysis tube.

Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the identification of the analysis tube becomes easy, and the parameter can be automatically set. Therefore, the control can be performed without considering the type and the parameter setting process for the connected analysis tube. The device can be easily attached and detached.

[0051]

As described above, according to the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention, a plurality of types of analysis tubes can be controlled by one type of control device. In connection between the analysis tube and the control device, it is possible to easily confirm the type of the analysis tube and set various parameters.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram for explaining a first configuration example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining detection means that can be used in the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an analysis tube identification process in the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a part of a flowchart for explaining a process of identifying an analysis tube in the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram for explaining a second configuration example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of use of the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining another example of use of the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining another example of use of the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining another example of use of the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining another example of use of the quadrupole mass spectrometer of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a conventional quadrupole mass spectrometer.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an example of use of a conventional quadrupole mass spectrometer.

FIG. 13 is a view for explaining a configuration of a conventional quadrupole mass spectrometer.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of use of a conventional quadrupole mass spectrometer.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Quadrupole mass spectrometer, 2 ... Analytical tube, 3 ... Control device, 4
... data processing device, 5 ... detection means, 6 ... head unit, 31 ... control parameters, 32, 42 ... parameter table, 41 ... processing parameters.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An analysis tube, a control device for controlling the analysis tube,
And a quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with a data processing device, wherein the analysis tube includes an identification portion indicating the type of the analysis tube, the control device includes identification means for identifying the identification portion, the control device, A quadrupole mass spectrometer characterized in that at least one of the data processing devices has a function of selecting and setting a parameter corresponding to the type of the analysis tube identified by the identification means.