Beam and Detector Stability
To test the beam and/or detector stability select from the Modes menu the data acquisition options desired for the test. Normally to test beam and/or detector stability, one should make sure that the Measure Faraday menu item is checked (even for aperture microprobes) and from the Count Times button in the Count Acquisition window, confirm that the Use Beam Drift Correction check box is unchecked in order to disable the beam drift correction.
It may also be desirable to check the Cycle menu item to continuously acquire data for an extended period of time. Finally, when ready, simply click the Start Count button. After a suitable number of acquisitions have been acquired, click the Cancel button in the StartWin log window to stop the acquisition.
Next, the data may be graphically plotted by using the mouse to select the data in the log window to plot. When the desired data is selected, simply use the Output | Plot Count Data menu to graph the results. By default all data columns are selected, however to plot a single data column simply click the column label of the desired data and click the Graph button. The Use 3 S.D. check box will display +/- 3 standard deviation lines for evaluation purposes if checked.