TFCompanion: Version History

Update release 052311 (May 23,2011)

1. :Advanced Version:New Feature:Production Batch. Added Calculation options panel to BatchPrepareDialog.
This allow to ML,FFT, ML+FFT options in the Batch calculations

2. Standard version: New Feature:Simulation. Added support for color coordinates/analysis simulation.
User can select Illuminant and Observer and simulate color parameters of the selected filmstack.
Most standard color coordiantes are supported: XYZ, xyz, CIE Lab, Hunter Lab, u'v'W, uv (CIE Color1960uv),
Whiteness,Tint, putiry, dominant wavelength.
Following CIE (1986) Illuminants are included: A,B,C,D50,D55,D65,D75,E,F1,F2,F3,F4,F5,F6,F7,F8,F9,F10,F11,F12.
CIE Observers (Photopic and Scotopic). Color simulation can be done in reflectance and transmittance, using different angles and including polarization).
Color results are displayed along with the reflectance/transmittance spectrum.

3. Standard Version:Bug Fix :Simulation Dialog. Using Filmstack Quick Creator was causing exception in some cases.
Filmstack QC alows quick manual modification of the filmstack using shorthand script
For example : 2000Sio2.mat/Si.mat$Name$:oxide2000 describes 2000A oxide on Si. It is easy to change thickness
or material or add a layer

Update release 04142011( April 14, 2011)

1. Standard Version:Bug Fix Using incoherent layer in long calculation causes memory problem. Special object pool was added to avoid creation of
the new filmstack objects and reduce the memoryu usage

2. Standard Version:Bug Fix Using weakly absorbing incoherent layer with oblique angle of incidence can lead to inconsistent results,
in some case (For example, unphysical values of reflection in case of fully absorbing incoherent layer)
Calculations were corrected to give consistent results.

3. Hardware Version: Improvement Option to select the calibration sample filmstack for reflectance measurement was added
to measurement configuration. This removes the need to use explicit calibration recipe
in cases when calibration sample is not a bare Si wafer. Selected calibration filmstack
is automatically used in default calibration recipes. To set calibration filmstack use Configure/SoftwareConfiguration and select "Measurement Conditions" Tab.

4.Standard Version:Bug Fix: Importing Beaglehole ellipsometer data using computer set to non-US may cause, in some cases, problem.
because Beaglehole data is always formatted using US locale (decimal point). This bug is fixed and data
can be properly imported independent of computer locale setting.

Update release 03162011(March 16, 2011)

1. Standard Version:Bug Fix. Import of Measurement recipes in TFCompanion (using Library manager).
2. Hardware version:Improvement: Default recipe for UVVis system automatically takes into account De alpha-line exclusion
(no need to create recipe meanually).
3. Standard Version:Bug Fix. Fixed the problem occuring when substrate is represented as a layer i.e. the layer is completely opaque. - done
For example, this happens when a wide spectral range is considered: materil can be transparent in UR and totally opaque in UV.
4.Standard Version: Improvement:. Added an options to set constraints to a group of calculated parameters(e.g. n or k),
instead of setting it for each parameter individually. User can right-mouse click on the constraints table,
select available parameter type (e.g. N, K or Thickness) and set the same min and max constraint to all
the parameters of this type. Also, added constraint application after the last iteration during calculation.
5. Advanced Version:New Feature. Added new material type: Tauc-Lorentz +Drude parameterized material
6. Standard Version:Bug Fix. During export of Filmstacks or Materials, software exported that the targeted zip file is
already created. If it does not exist - user gets an error meassage and needs to repeat the export twice.
Now export zip file is created automatically, if it does not exist.

Update release 07112010

1. Standard Version:New Feature: Added support for pseudo-optical constants (<n>,<k>) in Simulation Dialog. These parameters can now be selected for simulation and sensitivity analysis inclusing 3D charts

2. Standard Version:Fixed Bug: 3D Chart memory leak was affecting Simulation and Sensitivity analysis of two variables. Repeated display of the 3D Chart caused continious increase on heap memory that was not release when 3D chart or Simulation dialog were closed. This problem is now fixed

Update release 07052010

1. Standard Version:New Feature:Added measurement import support for KLA-Tencor ASCII "print data" file

2. Standard Version:New Feature: Added transformation of measured data to different compatible parameters (e.g. CosDelta,TanPsi --> Delta, Psi). In particular, ellipsometry data can be directly converted to optical constants (<n>,<k>) - this is done analytically i.e. without fitting to measured data. The data converted to <n>,<k> paramters can be saved as a material (this is handy when measuring substrates to determine optical properties).

3. Standard Version:Fixed bug: Smoothing function (window smoothing) of the measured datadid not work properly for few point at the end of the spectrum - this problem is fixed

4. Standard Version:Fixed bug: Detailed spectrum dialog was displaying data in Delta/Psi units, even when original units were CosDelta, TanPsi - this is fixed and the data is always displayed in the original units.

Update release 04302010

1. Advanced version:New feature::Added s.d. chart : Added an option of the s.d. chart to Signal Monitor dialog. can be used to check SNR and worming up of the lamp, etc.

2. Standard version: Added data format change:. Added support for a new Beaglehole data format for time-series measurement

3. Standard version: Bug fix. Number of significant digit in thickness data was not always updated correctly based on Precision setting (in Software configuration)

4. Advanced version: Production Batch: Improvement.

a) Added chart zooming along Y axis

b).Added correct representation of the significant digits in chart's Y axis labels

Update release 03172010

1.Standard version: Bug fix/Improvement:Direct n,k calculation. Several bugs were fixed in the direct n, k calculation routine.

There two main bugs:

a). In some cases, during the calculation both n and k assumed 0 values that caused division by zero problem that terminated futher calculation

b). When n,k values are selected at the wavelengths not present in the measured data but within the range of measurement - calculated parameters are remapped to the wavelengths present in the measured data. However, sometimes few wavelengths maybe not mapped correctly and were missing in calculation (but present in the measurement)

Both of these bugs were fixed

2. Advanced version: Cody-Lorentz approximation: Bug fix. In some cases, calculations were terminated because Log argument became negative during fit procedure. This problem was fixed.

Update release 02032010

1.Advanced version: Improvement:Data Acquisition. Integration time is adjusted using microsecond (us) increments instead of millisecond (ms). Most spectrometers used with the MProbe thin-film measurement system support us granularity and it allows to avoid saturation and shorten the adjustment time.

2. Advanced version: Improvement:Data Acquisition. Some spectrometers don't support dynamic dark current correction. In particular, IR spectrometers have PDA with the relativily small number of pixels (typically 512) and there is "spare" pixels to use for dark current correction. In these case, using several spectrometer channel to cover wide range of the wavelength may result in the offset at the "stitching point" of the spectra. Typical offset is relatively small (~ 2 to 5% ) and independent of the wavelength.This offset is now corrected in the software to have a smooth contineous spectrum spanning several channels.

3. Advanced version: Improvement:Data Acquisition. Added support for saving intensity spectrum for each spectrometer channel separately in the Signal Monitor. User can select a specific spectrometer or all spectrometers and save the intesity to a text file.

4. Advanced version: Improvement:Data Acquisition. Added support for explicite background correction in the raw intensity data. This is supported only for selected spectrometers that do not have dynamic correction of the background.

5. Advanced version: Improvement:Data Acquisition. Added user defined intensity range for integration time adjustment that can be set in the measurement recipe. The default range in 85% to 95% for the full ADC. In some cases, using short integration time (e.g. 10ms) with spectrometers that support only ms granularity of integration time adjustment causing problem with adjusting the integration time. Making acceptable range of the intensities wide e.g. 80%-95% is solving th eproblem.

6. Advanced version: Improvement:Data Acquisition.Added support for the new version of the Bayspec spectrometer. it is now fully integrated.

7. Standard version: New feature: Data Import. Added support for import of the Filmetrics map data files.

Update release 11152009

1.Advanced version: Bug fix:Incoherent film. The bug in calculation was causing a problem in cases of absorbing incoherent film (dielectic incoherent layer was calculated correctly). This bug is now fixed

2.Standard version: Bug fix:Nanofilm log data import. Bad points (e.g. NaN) in Nanofilm measurement log file were not handled correctly. For example, NaN was coming out as Delta=360 or Psi= 45 (e.g. maximum values of respective parameters). This showed as spikes in imported measured data. The problem is fixed and bad points are now skipped (not imported)

3.Standard version: Bug fix:Direct n,k, calculation. In some cases, when selected calculation n,k parameters at specific wavelength (in case of Tabular material representation of dispersion) did not have matching wavelengths in the measured data - the correction was performed fully. As a result, calculation were given errors : "Matrix is not positive definite". This problem affected primarily cases when direct n,k (point by point calculation) was applied to a large number of points (e.g. the whole spectrum). This bug is now fixed using following basic algorithm. For example, if n,k values at 633nm and 680nm in oxide layer are selected for calculation but measured data does not contain this particular wavelengths, instead the closest measurement data are 630nm and 650nm. In this case,630nm and 650nm wavelength are added to the oxide material (n,k valuaes are found by interpolation and set for calculation) and 633nm,680nm points are removed.

Update release 11052009

1.Standard version: Bug fix:Launcher configuration Launcher configuration (Configure/Configure Launcher) was broken due to naming convention. Launcher configuration allows to set memory allocation and select the JVM version used by the program. Launcher configiration is now working correctly.

2.Standard version: Bug fix:Session data. Session data was not saved properly. Session data stores information about last used directories. Because of this bug, program did not "remember" this information and user had to navigate to the directory manually each time. Session data is now saved correctly.

3.Advanced version: Bug fix:Incoherent film. Incoherent filmstack is internally represented as several standard filmstacks. This data was cached for calculation efficiency. However, this data was not updated properly and was becoming stale once the user change calculation parameters of the original filmstack. This bug is now fixed

Update release 09062009

1.Standard version:New Feature:Sensitivity factor. Nominal sensitivity is calculated as a partial derivative (of selected measurable value in respect to parameter) For example, sensitivity of Reflectance (measurable value) to layer thickness (parameter). As a result, sensitivity is a change of the measurable value (Reflectance in our example) in response to one unit change of the parameter. For thickness, one can using 1 Angstrom, 1 nm or 1um, etc,.. depending on user selection. In some case, this can cause a very large or very small sensitivity value. One typical example, is sensitivity to Optical constant (n or k) change. If n =1.5, the change from 0.5 to 1.5 (one unit for the purpose of sensitivity calculation) can cause a huge sensitivity value. New feature allows to define a factor (multiplier) that will reduce/increase the displayed value of the sensitivity. This factor is used only for display convinience purpose. Both the sensitivity value and the factor are displayed on the charts.

2. Advanced version: New Feature: Index profile. Added arbitrary index profile that can be defined by user (point-by-point). This is in addition to previously available continuous profiles (linear, gaussion, etc.)

3. Standard version: Bug fix and new feature: Incoherent/thick layer. Transmittance and (in some cases) Reflectance of filmstack with incoherent layer was calculated inaccurately, especially in cases of oblique incidence. This has being fixed. Previously, incoherent filmstack could have layers only on top of the substrate (incoherent layer). New release supports the use of the layers on both sides of incoherent layer(top and bottom). Current limitation: there can be only one incoherent layer in filmstack.

4. Standard version:Bug fix: Wavelength range (simulation and calculation/measurement) was artificially limited by10um in IR. This limitation was removed.

5. Imaging version: New feature: Tiff file data import. Added support for ellipsometry data import as a 32 bit Tiff file (previously it was imported as raw image data without ellipsometry attribution). User is prompted to input measurement conditions (Angle, wavelength, etc.) manually.

Update release 05102009

1. Standard version: New Feature:Data import Added support to import measurement data from an Excel file (*.xls). User can select rows/columns with data to import and assign type of the data to different columns. Details on different supported data formats and importing from Excel can be found at: DataFormats

2.Standard version: New Feature:Clipboard posting. Calculation resutls can be posted to a system clipboard for easy copying to other application. Parameters panel in the main window can additional "Text" tab - results of the calculations are shown there in a text form. A button allows to copy these results to a system clipboard

3.Standard version: Improvement. Fading message window. Confirmation messages that do not require any user action (only confirming successful completion of the task) are now displayed as "fading" messages, i.e. they display for several seconds and disapear without user action (no need to clicl OK anymore).

4. Hardware integrated version:Improvement. All measurement threads were consolidated in a threadpool and special care was taken to exit the program gracefully and terminate all measurement before closing spectrometer driver connections. If, at the moment user wants to exit the program, spectrometer is busy -e.g. due to long integration time -the program will show a wait message (user has an option to forcefully terminate the process).

Update release 04012009

1. Hardware integrated version:New Feature. Added Default Measurement Conditions configuration and Measurement startup configuration to Software Configuration Dialog (Tab. Measurement Configuration). Measurement Startup configuration allows to define what is excuted when user presses Measure button - the four options are:

• Use default Reflectance measurement recipe
• Use default Transmittance measurement recipe
• Prompt user to select specific recipe or default recipe or create new recipe (default option)
• Select specific recipe (from available in database)

User can, as before, explicitely load specific measurement recipe and overwrite configuration.

Default Measurement Conditions configuration allows to define integration time, number of averages and other parameters that will be used in default recipes.

2.Hardware integrated version:New Feature. Automatic discovery for StellarNet spectrometers: software detects connected spectrometers, register them and displays signal window. This functinality can be enabled (default) or disabled in Measurement Configuration.

3.Hardware integrated version:New Feature. Support the use of several spectrometers from different vendors/ different type simulteneously (on different channels)

4.Hardware integrated version:Improvement. Changed Hardware Configuration Dialog panel layout for more convenient editing of spectrometer configuration

5.Hardware integrated version:Bug Fixed. Fixed problem with updating spectrometer configuration (Spectrometer Configuration Dialog)

6. Hardware integrated version:Bug Fixed. Fixed problem with saving Calibration recipe (manually created).

7.Hardware integrated version:Bug Fixed. Fixed multiline messages in "toaster" message dialog

Update release 03112009

1. Hardware integrated version:New Feature. Added support for multiple spectrometer units/channels that can be used to extend spectral range or increase spectral resolution. The results of measurement from several units are merged in one spectrum.

2. Hardware integrated version:New Feature. Automatic discovery and registration of connected spectrometers. Software search connected spectrometers. If spectrometer is connected the first time - it is registered and the new configuration automatically created, if spectrometer was previously used - matching registration information if found and configuration is added to a list od currently connected spectrometers. Idf spectrometer(s) were successfully initialized - the signal monitor window displays signals from connected spectrometers. Note. This feature is currently supported only for Ocean Optics OmniDriver compatible spectrometers

3. Hardware integrated version: Bug fix. For all Ocean Optics spectrometers, TFCompanion automatically enables nonlinearity correction. However, some older spectrometers were not calibrated for nonlinearity and this was causing division-by-zero exception. The problem is now fixed and software is checking nonlinearity correction coefficients - if they are all equals to 0 (no calibration)- the correction is disabled automatically.

4. Hardware integrated version:New Feature. Added user-selectable temperature correction option. This option can be enabled/ disable in Hardware Configuration dialog or in properties dialog in Scope mode. Prior to this release temperature correction was enabled automatically for all spectrometers, however some CCD (notably InGaAs diode array used in IR spectrometers) do not have spare "dark" pixels to perform temperature correction.

5. Hardware integrated version: Bug fix. During measurement (or calibration) integration time is adjusted to optimize the signal intensity (to match the ADC range). However, if the signal from the spectrometer is very low or 0(sometimes by mistake or spectrometer is busy) - the integration time was immidiately increased to maximum value (typically 10s). Now, the time is icreased gradually, to check if the low signal was a mistake and give a chance to recover quickly.

6. Hardware integrated version: Improvement. Added additional information (current integration time, number of averages, etc.) to progress monitor that is displayed during measurement (integration time adjustment). Also, added a "stop" button so user can stop the measurement in cases when signal is too low (e.g. sample was not placed, etc.)

Update release 01252009

1.Standard version. Improvement. Added option of selecting several measurements for export in the LibraryDialog ( Measurements from the database are exported to separate files in XML format)

2.Standard version.Bug Fix. Several measurements of same type and measurement conditions can be used for Calculation and SimualateFit actions. An example is the use of several reflectance spectra taken in different spectral ranges.

3.Standard version:New Feature. Measured data merge option.When new measured data is loaded from the database and there is already loaded data of the same type that can be merged with the new data, the user have an option of Merge Data, Add new data or Remove old and load new data. For example, if reflectance is measured separately in two spectral range(200nm,1000nm) and (900-1700nm). This new option allows to merge two measurement in one spectram of 200-1700nm. If there is overlapping spectral region, software automatically analyze the data and select the point with minimum differences between two spectra.

4. Hardware integrated version: Improvement. When measurement recipe is selected In Recipe Dialog - spectrum definition and measurement conditions panels are populated automatically and the first Spectrum in the list is selected.

5.Hardware integrated version:New Feature. Measurement recipe can now specify "exclusion ranges". The ranges are specified as a text in the following format: min1-max1,min2-max2 e.g 550-560,655-665 where min1 =550nm, max1=560nm are limits of the first excluded range and min2=655nm,max2=665nm are limits of the second exclusion range. Excluded ranges have following effect on the measurement: a).Measurement points corresponding to wavelength in excluded ranges are ignored during automatic signal level adjustment b).Measurement points are excluded from the measurement results. Exclusion ranges option can be used to remove sharp peak (e.g. Deuterium lamp line) that can be affecting dynamic range or/and quality of the measurement

6.Hardware integrated version:Bug Fix. Signal monitor had data not matching wevelengths correctly (shifted) in cases when spectrometer has "dark pixels" i.e. first measurement pixel is not 0. This problem is not fixed.

7.Hardware integrated version:Bug Fix. Initialization problem (error message: "configuration file error, etc.") was sometimes appearing after current recipe was edited.

Update release 01152009

1.Standard version:Bug Fixed. Fixed several bugs in the Tabular material a). Interpolation of the optical constants takes accurately in the account wavelength resolution b). Automatically resolve and repair inconsistency in parameters in older instances of the material (this inconsistency caused sometimes spikes in the simulated data because incorrect conversion of the units) c). Update tabular material are point-by-point calculation (direct calculation of the optical constants). Previously, calculated optical constants were not properly updated .

2. Standard version:Bug Fixed. Fixed limit range problem in the SimulationFit option. The problem was causing corruption of the measured vs. simulated data chart

3. Hardware integrated version: Improvement.In Hardware configuration dialog, added option to generate default wavelength range of spectrometer based on the calibration coefficients.Wavelength range is expeced in nm and fractions are rounded: ceiling of the low bound and floor of the high bound. For example, calculated range [188.2, 843.5]nm will be rounded and displayed as [189.0,843.0]nm.

4. Hardware integrated version:ImprovementAdded display of the signal monitor chart during calibration and display of the calibration results after calibration successfully completes

5. Standard version:Bug Fixed. Fixed the problem with display of multiple measured spectra of the same type (when they are added from separate sources/files). Naming of the plot series was changed to properly distinguish different sources.

6. Hardware integrated version: Improvement.Added automatic update of the measurement recipe list when the new recipe is created of edited

7. Hardware integrated version:Improvement. Added default reflectance and transmittance recipe. When user select "measure" action but no measurement recipe was previously loaded,the dialog with 5 options appears: "Load recipe","Create recipe"."Defualt reflectance", "Default transmittance","Cancel". Default reflectance and default transmittance are the wo new options. When user selects one of default options - the measurement recipe is automatically created based on the spectral range of currently connected spectrometer and the default measurement condition and attributes are used.

8. Standard version:Improvement. Added detailed calculation conditions configuration to Software configuration dialog ("Configure/Configure Software (Calculation Tab)"). It allows to define default calculation algorith (Marquardt,FFT or FFT-Marquardt combination), Confidence intervals level usied in presenting the data (1 sigma,90%,2 sigma, 3 sigma, etc.) and detailed Marqaurdt parameters. The configuration data is loaded at startup and used by default.

9. Hardware integrated version: Improvement.Recipe Dialog originally would not allow editing/changing of the existing spectrum object: one had to remove existing spectrum and add a new, edited spectrum. This behavious proved to be unintuitive and caused confusion. New functionality is added to check the consistency of the existing spectrum (spectrum object in the list) and the data in the input panels; in case of inconsistency, used is given an option of updating current spectrum before saving the recipe. New functionality allows, effectively, edit existing spectrum object (wothout removing it from the list). Old functionality i.e. manually removing current spectrum and adding new spectrum is also supported.

10. Hardware integrated version: Improvement. Evaluation copy now permitted to save measurement recipes in the database This should make evaluation easier and more consistent with the full version experience.

11.Hardware integrated version: Bug Fix. Cancelling measurement action was closing monitor dialog but did not properly terminate the measurement thread. Now, when user calcels the measurement - the oprogram attemps to terminate the measurement threads and monitor stays on until the measurement is terminated.

Update release 01042009

1.Improvement:Standard version. Added user selectable thickness units (in Software configuration dialog/Defaults Tab)

2.Improvement:Advanced version.Using thick filams calculator (FFT) with the the multiplayer filmstacks requires careful maping of the FFT peaks to the layers. New algorithm uses thickness constraints set by the user to assign thicknesses correctly. Also, user selectable singnificance/noise-level allows to control FFT peaks that are accepted as a valid data and which one are ignored as noise.

3. Bug fix: Standard version. In point-by-point calculation there was sometimes problem of matching n,k values to the wavelengths when measured and calculated wavelength are not exactly the same and differ within the precision of the wavelength definition. Wavelengths were not matched correctly and cause the error and abort in calculation.

Update release 11202008

1. Improvement:Hardware Integrated version: Integration time adjustment to achieve full signal range was improved.

2.Improvement:Hardware Integrated version: Measurement stability was improved by discarding the first data acquired after resetting spectrometer parameters and using second data acquisition.

3. Improvement:Hardware Integrated version: Added correction for the saturation signal level. The correction can be set manually in spectrometer configuration or from the Signal monitor window to determine automatically the level of the saturation signal. The offset is needed because the real range of the ADC is different form the theoretical range e.g. 16 bits->65536 counts but real range maybe 62388 counts. Without correction, signal adjustment to ~ 90% of the maximum may give a saturated signal and inaccurate measurement. Singal correction need to be done one time for a new spectrometer and saved in the configuration.

4. Added:Standard version: Added support for a new Rudolph Technologies mesurement file format 1.6 (TDP, non-cassette)

5.Bug fix: Standard version: Fixed Delta/Psi significant digits setting problem (in software configuration dialog).

Update release build 11022008:

1. Improvement: Hardware Integrated version: Automatic refresh of the measurement recipes list when the new recipe is added.

2.Improvement: Hardware Integrated version: Integration time variable adjustment takes into account only specified range (previously full spectrometer range was used). This allows to acjhieve better S/N when small spectral range is used.

3.Added Dynamic measurement Plugin: Hardware Integrated version: Allows to take continious measurement (using different startegies: fixed number of measurement, fixed time between measurement and continious) as a function of the position (integrated linear sensor) and display a trend chart and statistics

4. Added FFT thicikness data export: Added export of the calculations done using thick film (FFT) method

5. Bug fix: Standard: Simulation as a function of the k (extinction coefficient) was displayed incorrectly as a function of n

Update release build 09112008:

1. Bug fix: Standard version: Calculation does not start properly, in some cases, from the main dialog. Fixed.

2.Bug fix: All version: Results of the calculation done in the Calculation dialog are displayed in the Main dialog, but cannot be exported from the Main dialog. Fixed.

3.Parser added: All versions: Parser to import transmittance data in JY/Horiba format.

4. Improvement: All versions: Double-click action load is added to the side menus (Main and Measurement recipe dialogs). Double click on the record initiates loading of this record.

5. Added Recipe Wizard: Advanced/Hardware integrated version (Measure/Recipe Wizard from the main menu): Wizard allows to create a new,edit existing measurement recipes and create calibration recipes. All the information is pre-populated based on the parameters of the connected hardware but user can modify the data. Calibration recipe is created automatically based on selected measurement recipe.

6. Added On-the-Fly calibration recipe:Advanced/Hardware integrated version: If user starts the measurement and calibration is not available or inconsistent with the measurement- calibration recipe is automatically created and user is prompted to proceed with calibration.

7. Added Measurement recipe check:Advanced/Hardware integrated version: Measurement recipe is checked for consistency with connected hardware (wavelength range) - fixed if inconsistent.

8. Added StellarNet calibration convention: Advanced/Hardware integrated version: If StellarNet spectrometer is used - wavelength calibration coefficients are displayed in the StellarNet format convention. Currently used configuration is not changed - only the display view. This allows to input coefficients values directly from the spec sheet without conversion.

9. Added new measurement recipe type: Advanced/Hardware integrated version: Added measurement recipe with calculation but without attached filmstack. It performs measurement and calculation of the current filmstack.

10. Added Hardware configuration check: Advanced/Hardware integrated version: when new hardware configuration is added it is checked for consistency between declared wavelength range and wavelength calibration coefficients/ number of pixels information. If declared wavelength range exceed achievable range - the user is notified of a problem.

11. Added Clear Calibration option:Advanced/Hardware integrated version: Measure/Clear Calibration menu options removes the current calibration data (if present). This forces re-calibration when next measurement is performed.

12.Bug fixed:Advanced/Hardware integrated version: Corrected the value of the s.d. of reflectance and transmittance measurement. The default standard deviation is 1% (0.01). If the "Repeat recipe" value is >=5 n the measurement recipe the actually calculated s.d. of the measurement is displayed. Change of the s.d. affects the MSE and chi^2 values displayed in the fit.

Update release build 06242008:

Previous build 06052008 has two bugs that are fixed in this update:

1. Bug fix: Transmittance is not correctly calculated in some cases, in particular, when substrate is not transparent - fixed

2. Bug fix: Display of simulated 3D plots flicker and disappears on some systems -fixed

Update release build 06052008:

1. Grid Search updated. Added "relative" grid search option: it allows to define grid range relative to the nominal thickness. The approach can be handy in dynamic measurements when thickness is changing.

2. Calculation Strategy added. The strategy allows to define a list of filmstacks to try in calculation and threshold GOF value for action. The use can define a base filmstack (fallback filmstack) and a list of test filmstacks to try. Software will generally try to use the filmstack in calculation (depending on selected strategy) until GOF is less then threshold.Currently there are three startegy defined:

a). Test_NoUpdate. Software try a list of filmstacks until GOF threshold is used. If none of the filmstacks on the list give satisfactory results a base/fallback filmstack is used. The best results are returned.

b). Base_Test_Update. Used primarily for dynamic (in-situ or mapping) measurements. First measurement use the base filmstack and update test filmstacks, subsequent measurement use test filmstack on the list until GOF threshold is achieved or list is exhausted. For example, one can define base filmstack with large grid search (to cover possible range of variation) and test filmstack having exactly the same structure but no grid or standard grid search. This can significantly reduce calculation time since parameter will not change very rapidly between the measurements.

c).Test_base_update. Similar to (b) but start with the test filmstacks list and fall back to base filmstack in case none of filmstacks give satisfactory results.

Note. GOF in calcuation startegy is defined as chi^2

3. Mapping support added. Full support for control, calculation and display of samples mapping. Motorized XY stage control, setting and editing mapping recipes. This option is available as a separate plugin.

4. Update remote command interface. Added options of filmstacks request (list of available filmstacks) and selected filmstack properties, returning fit data from calculations along with results.

5. Backside reflection correction. Added support for backside reflection from thick transparent substrates. Thick transparent substrate has to be set a "incoherent" layer and "void" or other ambient material has to be set as a "substrate". This setting will automatically enable backside reflection correction.

6. Bug fix: Conversion of Parameterized to Tabular materials during materials export had exception - this is now fixed

Update release build 02025008:

1. Material Import added. Added import support for materials in JY/Horiba format (text file). Materials can be imported ther same way as other formats i.e. from Material/Layer dialog (Action/Import Material tree node). Material format is recognized automatically.

2. Material Export added. Added export support for materials in JY/Horiba format i.e. now any material in TFComapnion library can be exported in JY format and properly imported in the JY software. All materials are currently exported in the tabular form. Materials can be exported the same way as to other formats i.e. from Material/Layer dialog (Action/Export Material tree node). Currently supported export/import material text formats: TFCompanion(Tabular, Parametrized, XML), Sopra, Woollam, Mikropak, Filmetrics (only import).

3. Bug fix - Sopra Material Import. Sopra material forma defines wavelengths by first wavelength, last wavelength and number of points. The wavelength step should be calculated as (last_wavelength - first_wavelength)/(num_points-1) instead it was calculated as (last_wavelength - first_wavelength)/num_points. As a result, the wavelength spacing was incorrect and optical constants we assined to a slightly shifted wavelength values. This problem is now fixed and materials import correctly.

4. Bug fix - TCP server command. The command worked properly only with enabled logging, when log was set to false - all data was processed but results were not send back to the client. This problem is fixed and TCP server is responding properly with enabled and disabled logging

Update release build 02022008:

1. TFUpdater utility. Two new options are added to TFUpdater: Backup and Restore. Backup allows to archive the current version of TFCompanion installation (including all data and configurations). Restore allows to restore a version from the previously done backup: this allows effectively to rollback any changes and restore selected version of TFCompanion. Download TFCUpdater installer from http://www.semiconsoft.com, if you have previous verison installed -let installer overwrite it...

2. Precision and significant digits. New options tab -"Precison"- is added to software configuration dialog (Configure/Configure software from the main menu). It allows to configure the number of significant digits and measuremetn data default precision. The number of significant digits can be set for various values (Wavelength, thickness, Reflectance, etc.) displayed in the software. The default precision can be set for different measured values (Reflectance, Delta, Transmittance) - this option can enabled or disabled. When it is enabled, imported measured data that does not explicitely specifies precision (s.d.) is updated with the default precision values.

3. Order search. Custom order search information is now displayed in a separate panel ("Order search" tab) in the layer dialog (Layer dialog is displayed when user click on selected layer). Order search grid values can be easily updated directly in this panel.

4. Bug fixes. Two bugs from the previous release were fixed: configuration of the Data server was not visible as a menu item, Order search dialog did not size properly. Message warning that TFCompanion.lax was not found in MacOS installation is removed.

Update release build 01152008:

1.Dialogs configuration: The size and location of the dialogs are cached - they are remembered during the session and between the session. The data is stored in the database.

2. Directories: a new, directories, panel tab is added to Properties dialog to allow users to configure location of the various directories used by TFCompanion e.g. location of measurement files, calculation results, etc. The data is cached and saved in the session.data file to use between the sessions. Directories are automatically updated with the last used location.

3. Modbus: integrated Modbus complying client is updated to new specification.

4. Plugins: TFCompanion internal architecture is updated to support automatic finding, loading and registering of the plugins. The main menu is automatically updated based on the plugins present.

Update release build 11252007:

1. New materials: Several new dispersion approximations are added: Adachi, AmorphousFB,AmorphousFB Oscillator, Afromovitz Oscillator, Maxwell-Garnett EMA, Conrady dispersion, Hartman dispersion, Schott-Briot dispersion

2. Format update: Calculation data export format was update to support the ability to import the results as a measured data and better reconstruct the filmstack used in the calculations.

Following changes to format were made:

a). TFC_RESULTS tag was added to the header

b). Square brackets were changed to regular bracket in the data header line (square bracket indicate a comment that is stripped by the parser):

e.g. Wavelength(nm), Angle(deg), Measured Psi, Calculated Psi,

c). Filmstack name is added to the filmstack script to better reconstruct the filmstack on import.

e.g. Measured Filmstack: 621.4Al_oxide.chy/Al_hustelloy_sp.mat$Name$:SP_AlOxide

3. Data import: Multiple spectra Horiba data format is now supported

4.Data convention: In some measurement system, e.g. standard configuration with photoelastic modulator, Psi can be determined only in [0-45] deg range. This convetion is now supported in TFCompanion

5. Dynamic batch plugin (require activation): Similar to a Production Batch functionality but data is received dymanically either from a networked hardware or from a directly connected source (e.g. mapping stage). TCP client and position sensor integration is included. Multi-step process e.g. sequential deposition/processing with position dependent measurements can be fully controlled. Network integration with Horiba Uvisel system is fully supported.

Update release build 08282007

1. Add Import of Calculation results file. File/Import Calculation Results - allows to import data that was previously saved with the File/Export Calculation Results. Full data: measured, calculation results, filmstack and calculated parameters in imported.Limitations:

a). All the materials of the original calculated filmstack has to be available in the data of importing TFCompanion version. Calculation results file contains filmstack signature (i.e. thicknesses and materials of the layers), if the referenced material(s) is not found in the database - import will be stopped.

b). Standard deviations of the measured data are not saved in results file, therefore repeating of calculations after import of the data may give somewhat different results than the original calculation due weighting of the points.

c). Results file does not the name of the original filmstack. Since there is no match between filmstack name(assinged during import) and database records - TFCompanion is suggesting to save new filmstack: this suggesting can be ignored,

2. Fixed TCP command interface header. The new, correct, header is @TFC@ that is represented as a byte[]=[64,84,70,67,64]. Previous header was erronenously set to @T.C@

3.Integrated new OmniDriver for Ocean Optics spectrometer. Now all Ocean Optics USB spectrometers are supported and several spectrometers/channels can be connected simulteneously. Reading calibration and other configuration data directly from spectrometer's EEPROM is now enabled. Longterm maintenance and restoration of the connection with spectrometer in production and other high-availability environments now available. This release includes a special integrated installer for hardware version of TFCompanion

4.Added automatic update of the launcher configuration in case of hardware integrated use to support native libraries integration on user's system.

Update release build 03042007

Bugs fixed

1.Standard (data import): Validate import data in Filmetrics format: check for negative values and set them to 0.

2.Standard (main window/ filmstack constraints panel): top filmstack layer parameter were not always displayed in constraints panel, now this is fixed

3.Standard (Material/Layer Dialog). Compound Binary Material table sometimes would not allow to add new material (add Material button), the problem is now fixed

Improvements:

4. Imaging (3D images): 3D image rendering is completely redesigned. The luminance of an image is interpreted as height for the plot. Internally the image is scaled to a square image using nearest neighbor sampling. For selections the bounding box of the selection is used for the surface plot. The viewing position of the plot can be adjusted with the mouse. Double click on the plot to show it from the top, triple click on it to show it from the front. Several modes for displaying surface plots are supported: * Drawing Mode: o Dots: All pixels are drawn as small dots. o Lines: All pixels are connected in the x-direction. o Mesh: All pixels are connected in the x- and y-direction. o Filled: All pixels are connected without leaving holes * Display Colors can be chosen from the original color, grayscale, different LUTs and orange. * Axes: If checked, axes and text are shown. * Invert: If checked, inverts the luminance of the plot data (the Lum height). The size of the data grid can be adjusted with the "Grid Size" slider (32x32, 64x64 upto 512x512 samples). Best plotting results will be achieved if the image has the same size as the plot grid. Using the "Load Texture button opens another image that will be used as texture map. This feature can be used to warp images. The "Perspective" and "Scale" sliders allow the 3D-projection and the size of the surface plot to be changed. The plot height may be scaled with the ZRatio slider. The "Min and "Max sliders will limit the height range of the plot data. Noisy images can be smoothed with the "Smoothing" slider. The "Lighting" slider gives the impression that the plot was illuminated and so improves the visibility of small differences. The "Save Plot" button generates a new image containing a screenshot of the surface plot.

5. Advanced (main window): Added an option to select a variable spectral parameter as a calculated parameter - it is added to the Measurement Conditions panel. It may be used to check for the calibration (r lack thereof) of instrument. For example, one can have an angle-of-incidence spectrum but angle value was not calibrated very accurately: by selecting angle-offset as a calculation parameter all angle will be offset to acheive the best fit. This method is not a substitute for the calibration and should be used sparingly but it allows to check if there maybe a problem with the measured data.

Update release build 02032007

Bugs Fixed:

1.Advanced (Batch dialog): Load Filmstacks option button (used to load alternative database - default is loaded by default) was not finding and loading correctly database file. Problem is fixed

2. Standard (3D plotting): Z axis scaling problem occured in some cases when the Max Z values is small (<10^-2) and Min Z value is negative. Z axis is being re-scaled but scaling coefficient was not displayed in the axis label. Absolute values display did not have this problem. Rescaling is removed and the bug now fixed.

Improvements:

3.Advanced (Batch dialog): Added filmstack editing option. User can double click filmstack in the Match table to review and edit it. On return, user is prompted with an option to update single filmstack or all filmstacks(with the same name) in the table. Previously all filmstack modifications were discarded and only reviewing and selection of calculated/displayed parameters was allowed.

4.Standard (Material dialog): Added options of selecting displayed optical constants in case of parameterized materials. New tab is added next to material properties table. Note. Material dialog is accessible from the batch or image dialog and now provides an option of selecting displayed optical constants. (Batch dialog provides calculation for displayed parameters).

5. Standard (3D plot): Added locale selection to data export dialog.User can select any of the available locales to specify the formatting of the data (e.g. decimal point or decimal comma).

6. Advanced (Batch dialog): Added sorting to measurement data files in Batch Prepare dialog. The order of the files returned by the operating system is, in general, not guaranteed, this can cause inconvenience if one is interested in processing a sequence of measurements. User is now prompted to select one of the sorting options during selection of the measurement data directory (Load Measurements action). Follwoing options are implemented: sort by date (date the file was last modified), soft by name (alphabetical sorting), sort by sequence number (file name is expected to end with a number - extension are allowed, e.g. data1.dat,data2.dat, data101.dat, etc).

Update release build 01212007

Bugs Fixed:

1.Standard (Simulation): Loading template now properly setting number of points in selected variables.

2. Stardard (Simulation): 3D Plot sensitivity now correctly displays z axis label when sensitivity variable is N

3, Standard (Simulation): Quick filmstack script did not work properly in some cases when ambient materials is not default (void.mat). This problem is fixed now.

4. Standard: Sidebar records list had selection problems in case of the presence of several identical records. The problem occured, for example, when filmstacks has several layers with identical material - the user was able to select only the top most record (layer). This problem is fixed now.

Improvements:

5. Standard (Simulation): "Hot swapping" of filmstacks allows to automatically reload current template with the new filmstack, if no template was used all selections are reset.

6. Standard: 3D data export now allows to specify the precision (number of significant digits) in exported data; precision can be set independently for x,y and z parameters

7. Standard: Streamlined TFCompanion update process. Previuosly user has to exit TFCompanion and start TFUpdater to complete installation process. Now TFUpdater is started automatically. If TFUpdater is not installed - download of the installer and installation process is done without existing TFCompanion. Update sequence is started by selecting Help/Check update from the main menu.

8. Standard: User can now select the location fo the evaluation key (if it is not located already in the / init directory), it can also be read directly from the zip file.

Update release build 01072007

Featured Added:

1. Standard: Export 3DPlot data to a text file (Actions/Export in Plot3D dialog menu)

2. Standard: Export of Parameterized Materials (Cauchy, Oscillators,EMA, etc.) to a text file from Materials Dialog. Three export formats are available:

a). Export as a parameterized material to a special (csv) text file that can be imported in Excel or TFCompanion

b).Export as a tabular material (convert parametrized material toa tabular and export to a csv text file).

c). Export to an xml file. XML file allows to save the "full current state" of the material, e.g. calcualtion and displayed flags, constraints on parameters, etc. XML file can be imported in TFCompanion

3. Standard: Option to combine two parameters on one chart (e.g. Delta and Psi) and split back combined chart to two "simple" charts. CompareData/Combine Plots and CompareData/Split plots are added to menu of CompareData dialog. For measured data - select "full screen" option and select relevant menu items.

Improvement

4. Standard: Import of Parameterized materials. Materials format isd automatically recognized: TFCompanion (text and XML format), Mikropak format parameterized and tabular materials are supported. Sopra tabular materials text format is supported

Update release build 11182006

Features Added :

1. Advanced (Multiple samples analysis): Reading of multiple measurement data files from zip file is now supported

2. Standard: Reading of measured data file from the zip archive is supported. User is prompted to select an entry from the zip.

3. Standard(SimulateFit): Measured data was automatically limited to the available wavelength range of the filmstack when using SimulateFit. Now full measured data is displayed independently of the measured data range i.e. measured and simulated data may have different overlapping ranges.

4. Standard: During Calculation operation (from main screen or calculation dialog), measured data was automatically limited to the available wavelength range of the filmstack. Now, if measured data exceed the filmstack range, user is alerted and given and option to Exit calculation and modify filmstack and continue. User can disable the warning dialog, as well.

Bugs Fixed

5. Standard (Layer Dialog): Order search state is now properly displayed (in selection box), when user select a layer that has an order search.

Update release build 11052006

Features Added :

1. Advanced: Using FFT (Power Spectral Density) to estimate the thickness of the thick films. 'Calculation options' tab is added (in the front page) that allows to select 'FFT esimate', 'FFT estimate with curve fitting' and 'Marquardt-Levenberg fitting'.

a). 'FFT estimate' calculates and displays the Power Spectral Density of the spectral data, the peaks on the plot indicate the thickness(es) of the layers. This approach works best for a simple single thick layer filmstacks. As for any other calculation option - the thickness parameter should be flagged as calculated. If there is more than one layer (and more than one thickness is marked as calculated), user is prompted to select only one layer - the dispersion of this layer will be used to 'scale' the thickness. Note, that thicknesses of all the layers will be visible in the displayed Power Spectrum but their mapping to the thickness values maybe not accurate because of optical constants dispersion. 'FFT estimate' does not give very accurate value of the thickness because of the limited length of the spectrum.

b). 'FFT estimate with curve fitting' option is using Power Spectrum calculation to estimate the thickness of the film and continue with the full curve fitting to determine this thickness accurately. This is similar to 'order search' option but is more efficient in cases when film is thick or even approximate thickness of the layer is not known.

2.Standard: Added support for import of the Filmetrics measured data file (*.spe).

3.Standard: Added support for import of Rp,Rs,Tp,Ts and arbitrary combination of R,T, ekllipsometry data in the Woollam format measured data files.

4.Standard: Added support for import Sopra format material files using nm,A wavelength units (in addition to eV, and um that were previously supported).

Update release build 09282006

Features Added :

1. Imaging. Image angular distortion correction (due to oblique AOI). Original image is shrinked (factor of Cos(AOI) and rotated 90 deg). Aspect ratio and orientation of the original sample are restored in the image. To use this option, right-click on the image and select "Correct AOI distortion" from the popup menu Note. Some images are already corrected before being imported in the software( e.g. Nanofilm map data ) and correction option will be disabled in this case.

2. Imaging. Calibration of AOI variation across the image, enables saving of the AOI calculation of test sample measurement. Typically, one would use e.g. native SiO2/Si as a test sample and calculate T and AOI across the image. The calibration can be used for AOI correction during the measurement of other samples (measurement conditions should be matching calibration condition for accurate results). To use this option, right-click on the AOI test image and select "Set AOI calibration" option. In order to use this calibration during calculation select "Use AOI correction" option in Calculation conditions panel (in Calculation Setup tab).

3.Imaging. Window/Toggle Window view (Ctrl+V) option allows to hide/show Image information and ROI manager bars. In the hide mode - more space is availabe for the image.

4.Imaging. Image view is improved: Scale bar is moved outside of the scrolling pane - now it is always visible when large image is scrolled, etc. X and Y scale rulers are added to the scrollpane, the "unit change" button in the top-left corner allows to display distance information on the rulers in different units.

5. Imaging. Several new image manupulation/processing features are added:

• "Shrink Image" allows to reduce the size of the image by averaging specified number of neighboring pixels (Image/Shrink)
• "Scale Image" allows to change the size of the (x and y coefficient can be different), interpolation option is available (Image/Scale Image)
• "Rotate Image" allows several options: Flip horizontally, flip vertically, 90 deg right, 90 deg left, rotate at arbitrary angle (Image /Rotate)
• "Zoom" - several options are avaialble: zoom-in, zoom-out (these option are the same as using zoom icon from the toolbar), zoom original (restores original zoom of the image), zoom selection (change magnification to fit selected ROI in the current image window size) and zoom to fit - zooms the image fit fully in the window. (Image/Zoom)
• "Smooth image"- this filter allows to blur the image by replacing each pixel by an average 3x3 neighboring pixels (Process Image/ Smooth)
• "Sharpen Image"- this filter uses 3x3 convolution kernel to improve contrast (Process Image/Sharpen)
• "Images math" allows to perform a set of mathematical operations on two images: add, subtract,multiply, divide, etc. Advance option allows to perform more sophisticated operation that are typically used for background subtraction, etc. Process Image/Image Math
• "Enhance Contrast" allows to improve image contrast by changing histogram (normalization or equalization). User can select different options. Process Image/Enhance Contrast

6. Imaging. Added "Undo" option (Image/Undo Ctrl-Z) allows to undo most of image modification sequentially.
7. Imaging. Fixed export of the Line Scan calculation data
8. Imaging. Fixed zooming-out of the image that is already fully fitted in the window (zooming-out in this case is not allowed)

Update release build 08092006

Features Added :

1. Advanced: Surface roughness & scale correction coefficients for reflectance and transmittance measurements are added to the main screen (RT Correction tab in the Filmstack panel). Both coefficients can be used as other filmstack parameters in calculation (fitting of calculated to measured data). By default, coefficients are disabled - use "use" check box to activate respective coefficient. Coefficients can be set as "displayed" - in this case the fixed values of the coefficients are used in calculation. If coefficient is set to "fit" - the value of the coefficient is adjusted during the calculation.

2. Advanced: Fixed spectral parameters i.e. Wavelength or Angle-of-incidence now can be selected as calculated parameters. Measurement Conditions tab is added to the main screen (Wafer ID Panel). By default parameters are disabled - select "use" check box to enable corresponding parameter. Parameters can be used in calculation - select "fit" checkbox to calculate the parameter.

Bugs Fixed:

3. Standard: Fixed export of the Sensitivity calculation data to text format

4. Advanced: Fixed disable/enable policy with the surface roughness correction button in Calculation dialog. Button is enabled if Reflectnace or Transmittance measurements are present in the measured set - disabled otherwise. There was a problem with enabling button from previously disabled state

5. Imaging: Fixed import of the images with the aspect ratio<=2. Images are not rotated and scaled, as priviously happened, but are placed in the scroll pane

6. Imaging: Fixed creating of additional Calculation Sets. Previously, on of the maps was displayed twice in the last set (when there were more than one set).

Update release build 07072006

Improvements:

1. Only selected measurement data points are now displayed in the chart. Previously, deselected points continue to be present in the spectrum but not used in calculation

2. Unselected spectra are displayed with Gray markers ('disabled color') series on the plot toi distinguish them from 'active', color-coded series

Bugs fixed:

3. The marker color of the plot series is now maintained when a new series are added.

4. Fixed Cache Tab in the Batch Preparation Dialog (Production Batch): selecting Cache Tab was causing exception in case when the cache was empty.

Features Added

5. Added limit X-range options to Compare Data Dialog chart. Limit affects only chart display model, it does not effect the measured data - the data that is used for calculation

6.Added change X axis units to Compare Data Dialog chart

7. Added MultiSample calculation option (Actions/MultiSample Calculation). This feature allows to calculated several Filmstack(sample)-Data pairs together. User can also "link" layer or materials from different filmstacks together to reduce the number of calculated parameters.(The link map of the filmstack is presented in the Tree form for review). This approach may improve confidence in validity of the model, since additional constraint of fitting several data sets simulataneously should wet out unphysical models.. Current implementation has several limitations: a). Order search option is not supported b).Setting new calculation parameters can automatically "unlink" materials/layers - they need to be linked again manually.

Update release build 06062006

Added support for Transmittance in Woollam data format.

Update release build 05302006

1.Bugs Fixed: Woollam data format first line with comments, if present, caused problem in recognizing format. Now, first line if present is recognized as a comment, data is properly parsed and displayed

2.Feature Added: Enable roughness correction for Transmittance data calculation. Before, roughness could be applied only to reflectance data.

3. TCP server is now enabled for evaluation version.

Update release build 05102006

1.Bugs Fixed in TFC import format: Rs and sd_Rs data import was not recognized. Transmittance data import ignored aoi of incidence data (set 0 by default assuming normal incidence).

2. Bugs Fixed (Transmittance measurements). Several bugs in transmittance calculation were fixed: Results of Transmittance calculations (Tp,Ts, T) did not show in the plot in the Main and Calculation dialogs; Transmittance simulation correctly accounted for Substrate/Ambient correction but in calculation ambient/substrate correction was ignored (problem if material for Substrate and ambient are different)

3.Feature Added: build-in TCP server to receive the data over network. Data can be send in any of supported as measurement files formats (first and last line need to be added). This feature is an addon that requires Advanced version of TFCompanion and activation code. Disabled by default.

Update release build 04202006

1. Added Format support: Jobin-Yvon measurement data text file format now supported also in the the case od Reflectance maeasurement

2. Added Format support: Beaglehole instruments new SData data text format is now supported. Data can be imported in the main dialog (the format type is detected automatically).

Update release build 03282006

1. Improved: Order Search calculation is streamlined and optimized for single processor computers. Progress dialog is added to allow the review and control of the calculation progress.

2. Feature Added: new Parameter Constraints panel is added to Filmstack panel/Parameters Tab (main screen). This panel list all the calculated parameters related to material (n,k, parametrized coefficients) and allow to manually set constraints and/or deselect calculation of some parameters. The list is synchronized with the filmstack changes.

3. Feature Added: several new features added in Filmstack panel/Parameters Tab (main screen) to allow:

• select calculation of the optical constants (n or k or both) in specified wavelength range e.g. input 200-700 to select all the optical constants in 200-700nm range;
• deselect all calculated optical constants of specified type (n or k or both)- input keyword reset
• set constraints to all optical constants of specified type (n or k or both), e.g. input -0.5,0.5 (Note. first number has to be negative). This will set constraints to all selected optical constants as Min. constraint=value-0.5; Max. constraint=value+0.5

Update release build 03162006

1. Fixed bug: Fixed Woollam data format import problem - data other then ellipsometry or reflectance is now ignored, e.g. lines starting with dpolE, etc. are skipped. Also check now more carefully lines before the start of the data - empty line, lines that have only one character -dot, comma or semicolonline - are skipped

Update release build 03092006

1.Imaging Improved: User can update map attribute values (s.d., Angle, etc.) in the cases when measurement map is already included in one of the calculation sets.

2.Imaging Added: support for Nanofilm *.map.info file with the measurement condition and calibration information. Info file should be in the same zip file or directory as the corresponding *.map file and is located automatically. If map.info file is not found user is prompted to input measurement conditions information.

3.Imaging Added: additional image information including calibration information added to info panel.

4. Imaging Improved: Added refresh option to the filmstack list in the Calculation setup panel. This allows to access newly created and saved filmstacks.

5. Imaging Fixed: Picking roi average after image zoom-in was incorrect

6. Improvement: added MSE value to the toolbar of the main menu to review the quality of the fit when doing direct calcultions.

7.Imaging Fixed: Attempt to cancel Tab name change was causing exception

8. Imaging Fixed: zoom-in of 3D plot and Linescan calculation image in the tab did not give a good view and image was partially cut-off - added scroll bars for better viewing.

9. Imaging Fixed: Pick Roi Average option for Oval and Polygon Rois had a problem

10.Imaging Fixed: Saving an restoring multiple Roi to/from zip had a problem.

11. Imaging Added:Calibration data from the measured data map is transferred automatically to the calculation results maps.

12.Imaging Improved: set better estimates for measurement s.d. during data import based on the data format. Removes the need for user to do this manually

13. Imaging Fixed: Histogram did not refresh in some cases when a different function is selected e.g. log after linear until after user click in the area outside the histogram.

14.Imaging Fixed: When ROI is added/deleted or updated on one of the measurement map that are a part of the calculation set - all other maps in this calculation set are also updated.

15. Imaging Fixed: When measurement map is removed from the calculation set or the whole calculation set is removed - there was sometime in complete removal that prevented creating another calculation set or adding new map properly.

16.Imaging Fixed: Linescan calculation when there was more than one measurement map had a problem

17. Imaging Improved: Improved automatic detection of the proper import format. All the data can now be imported using Open File option, consequently Import Text file and Import Text Image are depricated and removed. Also, remember in all case the location of the last imported image and persist this information between the sessions

Update release build 02262006

1. Imaging Fixed: Zoom-out of large images with width/height ratio>2 had problem when user zoom-in and and then zoom-out: when returning to magnification=1 image was displayed as a narrow band, further zoom-out was restoring correct proportions. This problem is now fixed.

2. Fixed problem: Launcher configuration dialog was, in case of default memory allocation, displaying memory in KB instead of bytes. The problem is now fixed

3. Feature added: Material data export now allows flexibility to select wavelength and optical constants units to export. Use Export/TFCompnion option in Material or Layer dialog. Previously, nm and n,k units were used by default. Both import and export of the materials data in any units is supported. The header of the material text file was changed to enable this functionality, old material file header is continue to be supported.

4. Imaging Added: Added support for import of the data from zipped archive. All supported image and data fromat can be now imported from the zip. Zip archive can contain one or several image files; in case of several image files user is given an option to select a file to import.

5. Imaging Added: Added drag and drop file functionality to Image dialog. User can drag a file into dialog and it will be imported (same action as Open file).

6. Imaging improvement: better tracking of the import progress for large files - shows % progress of read/parsed data.

Update release build 02152006

1. Imaging Added: Data backup/restore option. Allows to backup calculations and/or measurement data to memory and decouple it from the data presented to viewer. This enables modifying the image (add scale bar, change colors, threshold, brightness, etc.) without affecting actual data. Backup data, if available, is always used in calculations or data export. Restoring moves backup data to the viewer.

2. Imaging Added: Snapshot/restore option. Similar to Data backup/restore, there are several differences: a). Snapshots data is not safe - it can be overwritten (e.g. software uses snapshots automatically to enable reset functionality in brightness or color settings). b). snapshots are not used in calculation or export of the data. Snapshots can be effectively used for one-step actions, e.g. setting scale bar, etc.

3. Imaging Fixed problem: Profile/Linescan window stays always on top to enable moving a line on the image and dynamic reviewing linescan data.

4.Added: Launcher Configurator (Configuration/Launcher Configuration). Provides user interface to modifying configuration file that is launching application. In particular, initial and maximum memory allocation can set, as well as another JVM selected.

5.Imaging Added: Threshold Adjustment. Allows to review and set minimum and maximum thresholds. Different color codings are available for convenient review. Setting threshold normally does not modify the data and is used as saturation level. Change of the threshold setting will make data available in original form again. In case of 32 bit data (measurement or calcualation data) it is possible to actually remove the data outside thresholds (set it to NaN) in order change the scaling/ remove flyers, etc. Data backup option can be used to restore the data later, if needed.

6. Fixed problem: Production Batch would not start if designated measurement directory is empty.

7. Fixed problem: Woollam/Nanometrics format data did not import properly if only Reflectnace data was present (no ellipsometry data).

8. Imaging Fixed problem: Memory retention during image calculation. The problem was in large memory retention by the output results text area. Using Reset button now completely releases all the memory after calculation. Note. Save data before using reset (use duplicate to copy image data. Output text is normaly used to review the progress of the calculations but it can also be preserved by copying and pasting to any text editor, if necessary).

9. Imaging Added:. Image Brightness/Contrast adjustment.

10. Imaging Added:. Image Window-level/Background adjustment

11. Imaging Added: Image Color balance adjustment

12. Imaging Added: Image Histogram (linear,log, sqrt, etc options are available).

13. Added: Checking consistency between imported measured data and selected convention (BIL or Azzam). In case of inconsistency, user is advised to change convention in software configuration. Implemented both in imaging and stadard measurement imports.

14. Added: Subscription information to registration panel (About dialog).

15. Imaging Fixed problem. Calculation of the optical constants at the wavelength that does not match available measurements caused uncaught exception. Now program checks parameters consistency, wanr user and give a choice of automatically select optical constant that matches measurement wavelength (interpolated is necessary) or stop the measurement. This makes imaging calculations consistent with the rest of TFCompanion calculation conventions.

16. Imaging Fixed problem. At location selection of the scale bar was not working properly. Now, Scale bar is automatically placed at selected ROI by default, user can option to change position to one of other predefined locations.

17. Added: Memory monitor window (Help/Memory Monitor from the main menu). Displays currently used, allocated and total avaialble memory; runs plot of currently used memory. Monitor data is continiously updated. Intended to testing.

Update release build 01302006

1. Optimize the speed and memory usage during import of large image files in PicoScan format. New optimized file reader utility and parser and developed.

2.Display and scaling of the large images is improved. If image has aspect ratio>2 and is large than the screen - it is put in the scrolling pane without scaling (previously was scaled by default ot fit the screen). As previously, user can change scale (magnification) manually. If image size fits the screen - scroll bars disapear.

3. Fixed Pick Avaraged ROI option. The problem was that In some case, x,y values were switched and averages were equal 0.

4. Fixed Sopra GESP (ver. 7.99) data format import. Also, forced display of the data in original units (CosDelta, TanPsi) instead of defaults (Delta, Psi).

5. Optimized automatic recognition of various text data formats to make it more reliable and fast.

6. Reduced memory consumption during image calculation. Results update thread is now more memory efficient.

Update release build 01252006

1. Add more control of s.d. and weights of the measured point in the spectrum. Allow to assign weight or s.d. to every point of the specified parameter. For example, asssing different weight to to Delta at all spectral points (Psi weight is unchanged). Incidently, this allows to exclude selected parameter from calculations by assigning weight of 0. Feature is availalbe in Calculations Dialog and the main window (right-click on the data table and select data index in popup menu, double click on one of the spectra on the list to see the detailed view).

2. Synchronization between Main window and Calculation Dialog. Added update of the Measured vs. Calculated data Charts when Calculation Dialog is closed (after calculation performed) and control is passed to main window.

3. Calculation Dialog (Details window): added Res. Sum Squared and ChiSq values (in brackets) calculated using R or T intensity for comparison with other software. Standard TFCompanion Res. Sum Squared and ChiSq values are calculated using r, t (amplitudes). This affects only reflectance/transmittance measurement, in other cases values are identical.

4.Added export option for Beaglehole picometer calculation results. User are given choice to either update the original data file(exports only calculated X,Y value - no calculated paramaters values) or save data to a separate text file is standard TFC format (in this case all calculated parameters values are also exported).

Update release build 01222006

1. Imaging version: Added new Tab container that allows more convenient navigation, removal, etc. of the big set of tab with the data, images, etc

2. Imaging version: Implemented saving of images to file in jpeg, gif, png,raw, tiff, zip/tiff formats. Also, saving of the image with calibration bar option in jpeg or png format.

3. Imaging version: Add calibration (pixel width/height in selected units - density calibration is not implemented yet). Also, added option of placing scale bar on the image.

4. Imaging version: various GUI impovements- appearance of the Calibration bar, etc.

5.Standard Version: Added option to select precision of data and calculated parameters in Saving Calculation results

6.Standard Version: Change display of calculated parameters in the Calculation dialog Details option.

Update release build 01102006

1.Imaging version: Added LineScan option. Draw Line (straight line, polyline, freeform), register as ROI and do calculation as with any other ROI. Results are displayed on the plot (bitmap image). Data can be exported to the text format.

2. Imaging version: Added Pick Data point option. Allows to pick measurement point on the image (if image is a a part of calculation set - a set of points will be picked-up that correspond to other images in the set). If cursor is withing boudaries of an ROI - averaged value of this ROI can be also picked-up. The data is transfered to the main window and can be processed as any other measured data using standard TFCompanion facilities. This option can be used for developing of a filmstack model and testing of calculations e.g. before calculating full map.

3. Imaging version: Fix the bug with ROI remove option

4. Imaging version: Fixed the bug with duplicating of images (duplicate images were not independent)

5. Imaging version: Added name change and setting of s.d. (measurement) in information panel (next to image).

Update release build 01042006

1.Added Imaging data calculation support. Import of Beaglehole PicoScan image data and Nanofilm *.map file data. Calculation of the full image map; selected ROIs; analyze and display results as 3D plot and much more.

2. Fixed the bug with the TFCompanion data format import - lines with "[" comment are now properly recognized

Update release build 12102005

1. Fixed bug: When EMA constituent is select and this Material dialog is canceled and Layer dialog may be not closing properly on OK button in some cases. Also, repeated calls of this layer can cause Exception. Problem was cause by internal error because some of instances of the dialog were not disposed properly.

Update release build 12052005

1. Fixed bug: When displayed parameter related to optical constants is selected in parameterized material - it is displayed in Parameters table (main window). The attempt to remove this parameter using popup menu option (Remove Item) did not work properly, especially in the case if Parametrized parameter is a constituent of anEMA material. Remove Item popup menu option now working properly

2. Added support to import on Nanofilm log measurement file for the case of the VASE measurement. In case of several ROI only first ROI data can be imported in the main window. Full data (all ROI spectra) can be imported using Production Batch options.

Update release build 12012005

1. Added support for linked layers and materials. By default all layers and materials are independent, however, user can now "link" layers or "materials" and make one layer a master ("node")- other layers linked to this layer will be dependent. Only equals layers (layers of same type, thickness and with the same material) can be linked. Linking two layers automatically links materials of the layers. Linked materials and Layers are supported in Advanced version of TFCompanion.

2. Added Web-links to the UserGuide, Tutorials page, etc. in Help/Online Info (main Window)

Update release build 11172005

1. Updated support for Nanofilm log file import

2. Fixed the bug related to calculation with the Order Search: when calculation were first done in Calculation Dialog and then from the main menu - Thread Pool error happens and no calculation performed.

Update release build 11102005

1. Fixed few bugs in the Simulation dialog:

a). Setting of the new filmstack selected from the database, directly in Simulation dialog was not working properly

b).Loading and resetting compansator calibration parameters when using simulation of system specific parameters (RCE system) was not working properly

2. Enforce two-step saving to the database when using Materials and Filmstack Editor dialog. All the changes are commited when user exit dialog using O.K. button or rolled-back is Cancel button ius selected. Previously, selecting Save action was completing save in one step (saving and commiting).

3.Changing (loading) filmstack from the database in Filmstack Editor Dialog is fixed and now is working.

4.Fixed theme selection behavious. Selecting Help/Chnage theme is changing the color scheme in all the application consistently.

5. Fixed several poblems in Production Batch (Batch Processing dialog):

a).Adding filmstacks to existing table without selection of the row had problem;

b).Using arbitrary measurement (not extracted from the batch file) cause problem in parsing the measurement name(expected sequence numbers);

c). Add checking for number of measurements (at least two measurement are required)

Update release build 10272005

1. Updated Batch processing:

a). added plotting of cached batch calculation results in CompareData.

b) added a list of cached calculation results to a Batch Prepare dialog and added this list

to Compare Data center as well. Plotting of the results can be done by selecting the cached record

and "Show Plot" option in the popup menu.

c). Change the default scaling of the Batch Trend Chart plot to show the results of all the calculations

d). Added the display of the Batch Trend Chart in a separate window (right-click mouse on the tab and select from the popup menu)

2. Updated Compoare data dialog. Added two new options: "

a). Limit Y range to remove the plot points outside the range (flyers).

b). Smoothing window (using standard, user selectable, windowing functions:Square,

Hann, Bartlett, etc) - this enables easy smoothing of the noise data.

Update release build 10242005

1. Import Nanofilm *.map data files for selecting LineScan. Delta, Psi map files pair or either Psi or Delta

can be imported. The linescan data is batch processed

2. Import Nanofilm *.log files and extracting ROI measurement data. Files can also imported in the batch dialog for processing several ROI simulteneously.

3. Updated Data compare option - cached batch calculated data is now also available for review.

Update release build 09302005

1. Fixed the problem with drag and drop functionality on Linux

2. Fixed the problem with java ver. 5 on Linux (Login and message windows were hiding under the splash screen during start up)

3. Fixed the problem with TIR (total internal reflectance) measurement. Incorrect sign was selected during the calculation

Update release build 09202005

1. Add Drag and Drop options to import measurement files: user can drag measurement file and drop it in the measurement table (main dialog) or drag Batch file and drop in the table in ProductionBatch dialog

2.Add option of adding measured data from different files. If user is adding the data and the table is not empty - program prompts to select "adding to existing data" or "new data".

3. Add session data persistence. Some user selected properties: measured files, results, saved imagesdirectories; chart color coding properties are saved in the session.data file. This information readback and is used the next time TFCompanion is started.

4. Add color coding of the plots. User can select different colors for Measured, Calculated and Simualted data for easier navigation in the complex datasets. Selection can be made in the Chart Properties dialog (Color coding tab). Enable checkbox should be selected in order for color coding to overwrite the properties of the individual plot series. Colot coding selection is persisitent between sessions.

5. Production Batch dialog is initialized using batch measurements directory information (the last used directory is remebered and used to popumate the List).

Update release build 09152005

Minor bug fixes:

• Measurement data parser (TFCompanion format) fixed problem with reading specular Reflectance data;
• Fixed resizing of the Compare Data center dialog.

Update release build 09052005

Fixed critical bug - Simulation results for Reflectance, Rp,Rs,Tp,Ts when simulated as a function of two parameters were not displayed properly in the 3D plot.

Update release build 09012005

• fixed the bug with significant digits: when big values were represented in scientific notation the number of significant digits was reduced e.g. 20000=2.0E4. Due to this both 20000 and 20400 will ber 2.0E4. This behavior caused problem in the display of simulation results and plotting the data. Behaviour is fixed as follows values >10^4 or <10^-4 are represented using scintific notation; in case of >10^4 - number of significant digits=3
• fixed reading measurement data from Woollam data file. When s.d.=0 in the measured file new value is assigned s.d.=1.0. Reading s.d.=0 without checking was causing exception during the calculation.
• Calculation exception are now caught and reported more carefully. Because calculation is performed in the separate thread, some calculation exceptions were unreported and the progress dialog continue showing even when calculation was aborted.
• fixed the problem related to appearance of the Plot dialog when Java 1.5 is used
• fixed bug in export calculation results from the main dialog

Update release build 08102005

• update libraries to make it compatible with security requirements of latest java ver. 1.5. release. In particular tflib.jar and tfcomp.jar are now digitally signed, jhall.jar with JavaHelp support is separated from tflib.jar
• TFUpdater utility for live update of TFCompanion is released. This utility allows to dowload and install updates from the web (update can also be manually download and TFUpdater utility used to install it). TFUpdater utility need to be installed in the same directory as TFCompanion. TFUpdater utility work both for evaluation and registered copies of TFCompanion.

Update release build 08022005

• Bug fixed: Exiting application using Exit menu item and closing the main application windows directly was not identical. In the latter case application was exiting but did not properly dispose of the resource like database correction
• Toolbar exit icon in now enabled.
• Bug fixed: If during start-up application was not able to read the filmstack database - it was entering endless loop that exhaust memory resources. Now warning is displayed to the use and default filmstack is constructed ad-hoc to enable loading of the application.
• Added checking of the database files attributes (should be READ-WRITE). READ-ONLY database file attribute will cause denial of access to the database. Warnig message is displayed to advise user to check and change the attribute.
• Bug fixed: when exiting Calculation dialog - calculation thread maybe be still running (perhaps there was some problem). Now relevent threads are checked and terminated.
• Additional tests are added for unchecked exception that may accur during the calculation to end the calculation gracefully.

Update release build 07282005

• Fixed bug with the calculation of thick absorbing layers. The problem was that optical response had spikes at the certain thicknesses either though the layer is suppose to be opaque. The problem was caused by incorrect adjustment of the opticla phase in the calculations

Update release build 07212005

• Added Rename option to SidePanel (main window) popup menu to enable renaming of the database entries. During the operation only the name of the record in the database is changed, if the change is successful the old reference is removed.
• Change the sorting of the records in the database list - now the sorting is case-insensitive; this makes it easier to find the record (material or filmstack, etc.). At the same time the search is changed to case-sensitive (previously it was case insensitive)
• Fixed simulation template handling foer users with different capabilities/privileges.
• Added support for a new material format (csv style)
• Fixed library management utility to efficiently handle import of a significant number of entries - display progress, etc.
• Fixed the bug with editing Hardware configuration file (currently connected instrument change was not saved).
• Change the key-binding in the main menu - the use of the Shift key was causing confusion with the search string input; now only Alt and Cntl keys are used.
• Changed the exit dialog - gave user a change to return back to the application.

Update release build 07182005

• Added Export of the calculated results from the main window (prteciously export was available only form the Calculation dialog);
• Updated support for the latest Jobin-Yvon measured data format

Update release build 06282005

• Added support for system specific ellipsometry parameters; both reflectance and transmission ellipsometry are supported(RAE : Alpha,Beta,Alpha_T,Beta _T; RCE: A2,B2,A4,B4,A2_T,B2_T,A4_T,B4_T). Simulation dialog is update to allow selection of the measurement system type and input of the configuration parameters, automatic generationof compensator data or import of the calibration data is supported. All parameters and conventions supported by TFCompanion are described in new document available from the website.
• Fixed the problem with the constraints of calculated optical constants. The problem was that optical constants are displayed in n,k units while internal calculations are done using dielectic constants (consequently constraint were expected to be in dielectic constants units as well). Now, constraints can be entered in the n,k units and are converted internally to appropriate units.
• Fixed problem with using simulated X,Y data in TFCompanion format as a target in calculation
• Fixed the problem of displaying a plot of constants value (0) in the Compare data dialog. Previously, unchecked exception was thrown because the scale could not be set properly.

Update release 05/26/2005 (Build 05262005)

• Added support for the following Transmission ellipsometry parameters: CosDelta, TanPs, X,Y
• Fixed bug in Filmstack Editor dialog: Set button (for setting thickness) was disabled in some cases
• Added support for the patch to disable password in hardware key and fix the problem with the trailing 0's in some platforms. The patch can be provided in cases user forgot the password or there is a problem with the hardware key.

Update release 05/12/2005 (Build 05122005)

Release 05/29/01 ( Beta release, ver. 1.1)

1. Re-designed, new GUI using primarily Swing components;
2. Optimize the calculation thread.

Release 04/15/01 (Beta release, ver. 1.0)

Conversion to Java 2 (ver. 1.3) from Java ver. 1.1.8 and optimization.

Update 03/20/01 (alpha release)

Added: ErrorEstimator that allows to analyze different measurement recipes (scenarios) and optimize them without doing actual measurements.

Release 01/25/01( alpha release)