How to Safely Hibernate your Vacuum System

/in /by

Are you looking to hibernate your DCA Thin Film system during a COVID-19 laboratory closure?   

Here are some steps to think about alongside your own procedures.  Any questions, consult your manual or contact us: info@dca.fi

  • Pump down all deposition chambers, transfer chambers and load locks to their base pressure.  This will protect activated filaments such as within RHEED source and ion gauges.
  • Close transfer gate valves.  
  • Purge process gas lines, including MFC and Gas manifold, back to the gas bottle.  If you can leave the lines under Argon, then do so.
  • Water lines should be checked for leaks.
  • Materials in your sources, can degrade over long periods.  Do you need to secure these?   Materials in crackers are a particular concern.

Is there a chance of loss of power?

  • Back-up data on PC

Set up Video Calling and have contact details published in laboratory. 

These simple considerations alongside your own laboratory checklist should ensure that your system is back to being operational as soon as you are.

We hope that you and your families stay healthy.  DCA Instruments: SERVICE & SALES

COVID-19 UPDATE

/in /by

All New DCAX-60 Atom source for Oxides and Nitrides

/in /by

Our all new DCAX-60 atom source is now available!

Designed to deliver neutral atomic gas species, for the growth of high-quality compound materials such as; GaN, GaInNAs, InGaN, InN, ultra-thin Al2O3 and high-K dielectrics.  As a result of having a 50mm beam diameter DCAX-60 is ideal for research of:

Nitride and Oxide MBE growth

Atomic Hydrogen surface treatments

Reactive Gas generation for UHV Sputtering and PLD applications.

 

Control is nothing without Precision

/in /by

A recent delivery of a Thin Film cluster tool for an EU based customer, with precision sample handling demands has allowed us to demonstrate rapid and reliable sample transfer, followed by growth recipes and manipulation.   Why not view our LinkedIn channel, to see the movie?   Built to improve productivity, QCM motion, sample indexing and flipping are all precise, reliable and fast.

CLICK HERE

 

 

Visit DCA Instruments at the 2019 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit

/in , /by

DCA Instruments will be attending the MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, 3-5 December 2019. Visit booth #520 to find out about our latest UHV products for thin film deposition, or find out how DCA can help design unique UHV systems to achieve top-quality thin film deposition.

We look forward to meeting you there!

Multi-Chamber UHV System (Sputter, PLD and MBE) with Automated Transfer installed Trinity College Dublin

/in , /by

DCA Instruments completed the installation of an extensive UHV Multi-Chamber System at Trinity College Dublin funded by Science Foundation Ireland. The complete system offers multiple deposition techniques with rapid deposition from the two SP450 sputter chambers, controllable high-quality material deposition with the V450 molecular beam epitaxy chamber, and lastly high-precision growth with the PLD500 pulsed laser deposition chamber.

The customised sputter chambers are of particular interest as they provide unique deposition capabilities. Two target-facing as well as six confocal sputter magnetrons are available in one chamber,  while the second sputter chamber features six 2″ confocal magnetrons and a magnetic coil positioned at substrate level that applies a magnetic field during growth. Furthermore, specially-designed sample manipulators not only form part of the ATS (automated transfer system) but also feature motorised z-motion to adjust the working distance,  tunable substrate bias to assist with growth or perform a pre-growth wafer treatment and an oxygen-compatible heater capable of uniformly heating the wafer up to 1100oC (or 950oC in an oxygen enviroment).

The PLD500 target manipulator also features a unique-design that simultaneously rocks and rotates the selected target material to ensure uniform erosion. This allows the laser source to remain stationary and removes the need for laser rastering. The target manipulator also features linear motion to adjust the working distance as desired.  The PLD500 also features; a substrate manipulator suitable for up to 2″ wafers and equipped with the same oxygen-compatible heater as the sputter chambers, a differentially pumped Torr RHEED system to allow RHEED analysis at higher pressures,

The equipment is part of the National Access Facility that allows researchers and engineers from both academia and industry to use the DCA System for materials research and technology development for novel applications.

Meet us at EuroMBE 2019 in Lenggries, Germany, Feb 17-20th

/in , /by

Want to hear more about the latest results from fundamental materials and device research, technological applications and production with MBE?

The 20th European Workshop on Molecular Beam Epitaxy – EuroMBE 2019 – will be held in Lenggries, Germany, from February 17th to 20th, 2019.

 

DCA System at University of Texas Austin (UTA) continues to grow

/in , /by

DCA Instruments  will be adding another reactor to the existing DCA UHV system for the Demkov Materials Physics Group at UTA in Spring 2019. The new custom-designed reactor will combine both MBE and sputtering techniques to provide precision atomic level interface control with rapid deposition rate.

Additional key features of the system include; a high-temperature heating stage with oxygen resistant heating element with motorised linear motion, gate valve isolation to allow independent pumping and bakeout for two effusion cells, and finally a mask deposition design that allow the mask and substrate holder to rotate in unison to minimise the shadow effect.

Meet us around the world! – NAMBE 2018 in Banff, Canada, Sept 20 – Oct 5

/in , /by

Want to hear more about the latest results from fundamental materials and device research, technological applications and production with MBE? The 34th North American Conference on Molecular Beam Epitaxy (NAMBE2018) is the place to be in, next week!

See you in Banff, Canada!

 

Meet us around the world! – ICMBE 2018 in Shanghai September 2-7th

/in , /by

DCA Instruments will be exhibiting in the 20th International Conference on Molecular Beam Epitaxy in Shanghai. This year, the conference is organized by Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology (SIMIT), Chinese Academy of Science. The exhibition gathers together the professionals in the field of fundamental and applied MBE research.

Come and meet us at the booth!

For more information: http://mbe2018.csp.escience.cn/