Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
The Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology is upgrading the NanoFab’ s two Denton Vacuum sputtering systems: Sputter 1 and Sputter 2.
Both tools will be retrofitted with high vacuum throttle valves, allowing the user to set the deposition pressure in the range of 0.013 Pa (0.1 mTorr) to 13 Pa (100 mTorr). This will enable researchers to adjust the stress in the deposited films.
Sputter 1 will be operated with the same software as is currently installed in Sputter 2, allowing researchers to write recipes of arbitrary length and deposit any layer sequence.
Sputter 2 will be equipped with a loadlock, similar to the one now attached to Sputter 1, which will drastically reduce the pumping time. The elapsed time from atmospheric pressure to a base pressure of 4 x 10-4 Pa (3 x 10-6 Torr) will drop from 60 minutes to approximately 5 minutes.
These upgrades are expected to be in place by the end of the calendar year.
The NanoFab’s two Denton Vacuum sputter tools will be upgraded by the end of 2016.