Sample Naming

Overview

The Scan section of Scan Settings contains fields for Sample ID, Scan Folder, Sub Folder, and Lot ID. These files can be named either dynamically or statically.

When scanning from a cassette, naming can also be used to modify scan behavior, e.g. skipping certain wafers in a cassette.

There is built-in utility to assist in naming samples in a cassette. This can be accessed at Scan Settings in the Scan section > … > Sample ID List…

Feature Changelist

There have been a few breaking changes in the past few versions that affect sample naming.

Version

Change Description

nSpec v0.24.1.0

Prior to this version, when running a scan with an autoloader and OCR reader, the scanned OCR ID would always be appended to the Sample ID. This behavior was deprecated in v0.24.1.0 because of the introduction of string templates for sample naming.

Deprecation Workaround: Any workflows relying on this behavior and using blank sample ID names need to make changes to their jobs by using {OCR} for the Sample ID field, or enable new Scanning program option Always Append OCR ID (legacy support).

nSpec v0.23.0.0

When running cassette jobs on nSpec PS systems prior to v0.23.0.0, naming a sample with a semi-colon ; would skip that sample when scanning. Starting with v0.23.0.0, the use of a semi-colon to denote wafer-skipping behavior was deprecated.

Deprecation Workaround: Naming a sample _SKIP_ denotes wafer-skipping behavior.

String Templates

String templates can be used to dynamically name the sample ID and subfolder fields in the Scan Settings dialog.

Below are all the string templates that can be used in Sample ID or Sub Folder field naming.

Variable Name	Description
DATETIME	The time at the moment when the scan name is set. Output format: `%Y%M%DT%h%m%s` For example, `{DATETIME}_test` becomes `20240201T143431_test`.
ILLUMINATION	The abbreviated illumination modality for the active image settings group during scanning: Brightfield (BF), Darkfield (DF), Differential Interference Contrast (DIC), and Transmitted (TX). For example, when running a scan in brightfield, `test123_{ILLUMINATION}` becomes `test123_BF`.
JOB_NAME	Name of current job
LOT_ID	Name of Lot ID
MACHINE_NAME	Name of machine (`Device name` in PC’s settings `System` → `About`)
OBJECTIVE	The active objective in use during the scan
OCR	The value read from the OCR camera
SKIP	When used in the multi-sample input dialog, this skips the target slot. Note: This behaves identically to `_SKIP_`, and does not replace `_SKIP_`, which is preserved for backwards compatibility
SLOT	The slot that the wafer was pulled from in the autoloader. If slot information was not available for any reason, this will output “00”. Note: Values will be output with a preceding 0 if the slot number is less than 10.

Sample ID List Utility

The Sample ID List utility assists in naming samples for a cassette scan. The utility is located at Scan Settings in the Scan section > … > Sample ID List…

Each cassette slot can be skipped by toggling the Run checkbox to be unchecked, or choosing Skip All to skip all slots. Additionally, slots can be named with string templates using each Sample ID’s dropdown menu.

Clicking OK will automatically fill in the Scan Setting’s Sample field with the formatted string constructed from the Sample ID List. The following example would generate this string in the Sample field, starting with slot 1 and ending with slot 25:

{OCR};{OCR};{OCR};_SKIP_;{OCR};{OCR};{OCR};_SKIP_;{OCR};{OCR};{OCR};{OCR};_SKIP_;_SKIP_;{OCR};{OCR};{OCR};{OCR};{OCR};_SKIP_;_SKIP_;{OCR};{OCR};_SKIP_;{OCR}