Insertion of sample holder

1. Close V9i.
2. Turn off and remove the detector and turn on the light in the chamber so that you can watch the sample area.
3. Move the z motor at least 5 mm upstream to remove ZP and OSA from sample area.
4. There is a locknut on the airlock which is designed to mechanically connect the holder with the airlock / scanning stage rigidly. Rotate the locknut so that the slot is in line with the entrance slot of the airlock (i.e. down).
5. If the chamber is being pumped by the ion pump, separate the ion pump from the chamber by closing the gate valve and pumping the chamber with the turbo station. (Pump down the turbo to an appropriate pressure before opening it up to the chamber!)
6. Turn on the mechanical pump on prepump line.
7. Open Valve A (EVA valve, on Kwik flange with yellow handle) between mechanical pump and prepump line.
8. Insert the sample holder into the airlock. With one hand, hold the airlock so as not to put pressure on it and the small prepump bellows. The sample holder has to overcome a small resistance until it is all the way in its prepump position. It should gently click into place.
9. The convectron gauge on the roughing line should fall relatively fast to between 50 and 100 mtorr. If not, an up-to-air valve might be open (green handle, Valve D, or the black Varian valve).
10. When the pressure in the prepump line is below 100 mtorr, you need to switch over to the turbo pump. To do this, first close the electrically controlled valve between the chamber and the turbo pump by pushing the ``close'' button for the turbo valve on the cryo interlock control panel.
11. Open Valve B which is a (manual) EVA valve between the turbo pump and the prepump line. At the same time, close Valve A to the mechanical pump. Watch the pressure in the prepump line (located on the cart under the table), it should fall fast. The pressure on the Balzers Compact Gauge on the mechanical pump will rise into the $10^{-3}$ torr range and quickly fall again.
12. When pressure as read on the turbo pump becomes comparable or lower than in the chamber (on the Penning gauge), open the valve between turbo pump and chamber (on the cryo interlock control panel). Now, the turbo station pumps on the chamber and on the prepump line.
13. When the pressure in the prepump line is approaching $10^{-6}$ torr (or comparable to the chamber pressure), the sample holder can be inserted into the vacuum chamber. Turn the holder clockwise by 90 degrees. This opens the gate valve in the airlock and connects the vacuum chamber with the sample holder.
    If the pressure in the vacuum chamber rises rapidly, close the gate valve at once by turning the holder counterclockwise.
14. Guide the sample holder all the way through the airlock into the vacuum chamber and onto the notch on the sample stage. Make sure you watch the holder through a view port, so as not to collide it with the flexure stage. Do not let go of the holder before it rests in the notch - the vacuum force will pull it in!

    [Actually, the ``notch'' is now a 3-groove, 3-point contact.]

15. Be sure that the sample holder is all the way inserted into the airlock. Then tighten the locknut around the holder by turning it clockwise by roughly 3/4 of a turn. This will push the sample holder onto the O-rings in the tip of the air lock and mechanically connect the two.
16. The prepump line must be pumped constanly while the sample is in the chamber.

    Close Valve B and connect the chamber directly to the prepump line by opening Valve C (an EVA valve with yellow handle) on the downstream side of the chamber to the prepump line. This valve needs to be closed before the sample holder is removed from the chamber!

17. Open V9i.