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Introduction
Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is a thin film deposition (specifically a physical vapor deposition) technique
where a high power pulsed laser beam is focused inside a vacuum chamber to strike a target of the
material that is to be deposited. This material is vaporized from the target (in a plasma plume) which
deposits it as a thin film on a substrate (such as a silicon wafer facing the target). This process can occur in
ultra-high vacuum or in the presence of a background gas, such as oxygen which is commonly used when
depositing oxides to fully oxygenate the deposited films.
While the basic-setup is simple relative to many other deposition techniques, the physical phenomena of
laser-target interaction and film growth are quite complex. When the laser pulse is absorbed by the target,
energy is first converted to electronic excitation and then into thermal, chemical and mechanical energy
resulting in evaporation, ablation, plasma formation and even exfoliation. The ejected species expand into
the surrounding vacuum in the form of a plume containing many energetic species including atoms,
molecules, electrons, ions, clusters, particulates and molten globules, before depositing on the typically
hot substrate.
The process of PLD can generally be divided into four stages:
Each of the above steps is crucial for the crystallinity, uniformity and stoichiometry of the resulting film.
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Components
Vacuum Pumps
Turbo-Molecular Pump (P1): A variety of TMPs could be used to obtain ultra-high vacuum (
mbar) inside the chamber. Here I suggest the following product:
Company: TurboVacuum (High Vacuum Pumps)
Model: Varian Turbo Pumps
Model No.: V551
Inlet Flange: CF 100
Ultimate Pressure: mbar
Rotational Speed: 42,000 rpm
Backing Pressure: 0.1 mbar
Outlet Flange: NW 25
Backing cum Roughing Pump (P2): Again a wide range of backing as well as roughing pumps can be
used to match the requirements of the TMP. Along with the above suggested TMP the following
backing pump fits very well. It is also being used for roughing in the proposed design.
Company: TurboVacuum (High Vacuum Pumps)
Model: Oil Free Backing Pumps
Model No.: XDS 10
Inlet Flange: NW 25
Pumping speed: 8 cubic feet per meter
Ultimate Pressure: Torr or mbar
Note that the backing and roughing pumps should be completely oil free pumps.
Viewports
Viewport (V1): It’s the central bigger viewport attached solely for the purpose of viewing the
interior of the chamber. This will also be used as a door to keep the samples and substrate in the
arrangement inside the chamber. Technical details are as follows:
Company: MDC (http://www.mdcvacuum.com)
Model: Fused Silica Dell Seal CF
Part No.: 9722012
Mount Size: 9.97 inches (25.324 cm)
Lens Size: 8.0 inches (20.32 cm)
Temperature Range: -100 oC to 200 oC
Viewport (V2): It’s a smaller viewport attached at an angle of 45o measured from the vertical wall of
the chamber in the anti-clockwise direction. The infrared pulsed LASER will be directed through this
viewport to the sample kept inside the chamber. Technical details are as follows:
Company: Torr Scientific Ltd. (http://www.torrscientific.co.uk)
Model: Sapphire Zero Length Viewport
Part No.: VPZ38S-NM
Nature of Flange: Non-magnetic
Seal Type: Braze
Max. Temp.: 450 oC
Pressure Range: Torr
Flange Type: NW35CF
Flange Material: 316LN
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Following is the transmission curve for this viewport (V2).
Flange
Flange is an important component of almost all vacuum systems. The proposed design uses mainly the
following two types of flanges:
CF 100 (F1):
Company: Vacom (http://www.vacom-vacuum.com)
Model: CF 100 Bored Non-rotatable Flange
Order No.: F100B104-316
Material: Stainless Steel 316L
Bakeout Temp.: 450 oC
No./Type of Bolts: 16 X M8
NW 25 (F2):
Company: Swagelok (http://www.swagelok.com)
Model: NW 25 Bored Non-rotatable Flange
Order No.: JNWB2510
Tube OD.: 1.0 inch.
Material: 304 Stainless Steel
Bakeout Temp.: 204 oC
Figure 2: CF 100 Flange (A=152, RA=101, D=98, L=20, L2=9.5) (All dimensions in mm)
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Hydro-form Bellow
Hydro-form bellow is a flexible sealed tube as shown in the figure below. These are generally used with
rotary pump for backing or roughing purposes. Technical specifications are as follows:
Pressure Gauge
Pressure Gauge (G1) is a combination of two gauges hot cathode and Pirani gauge. Moreover, hot cathode
is controlled and protected automatically by the Pirani gauge. Technical specifications of the suggested
product are as follows:
Gate Valves
This design of PLD requires at least two gate-valves one to stop roughing and another to protect TMP as
shown in the figure above. These two valves can be closed ones ultra-high vacuum is achieved inside the
chamber thereby conserving a lot of power. Technical specifications of the two standard cycle gate valve
are as follows:
CF 100 (V1):
Company: HighVac (http://www.highvac.com)
Model: Standard Cycle Gate Valve
Model No.: 11110-0400
Operation: Manual
Material: 304 Stainless Steel
Bakeout Temp.: 250 oC
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NW 25 (V2):
Company: MKS (http://www.mksinst.com)
Model: Compact Vacuum Inline Valve
Model No: CVNL-K2-MKKV-240
Operation: Manual
Material: 304 Stainless Steel
Pressure Range: Atm to Torr.
o
Bakeout Temp.: 150 C
Substrate Manipulator (with 2’’ quartz lamp heater and gas shower ring)
PLD Substrate Manipulator (SM) shown above in the drawings comes with an inbuilt heater and gas
blower. As mentioned earlier in the introduction section, to obtain good results out of the PLD Systems,
the substrate has to be heated. And usually the substrate in the experiments is as large as a few
centimeters. So here I suggest using a substrate manipulator with a 2 inches quartz lamp heater and gas
shower ring (for carrying out experiments in the presence of gases like O 2 etc.), whose brief specifications
are as follows:
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Figure 6: Substrate Manipulator with a quartz heater and gas blower ring.
Target Manipulator
PLD Target Manipulator (TM) is attached to manipulate the target or sample. At times it is tough to focus
the LASER beam on the surface of the target. But it becomes pretty easy if the target can be manipulated
inside the chamber from outside without disturbing the attained UHV. Technical specifications of the
target manipulator are as follows:
Figure 7: Target or Sample Manipulator for inverted mount (gravity-held target holder).