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Carbon and Sputter Coaters – meeting higher demands

Q150V Plus -Series from Quorum Technologies

The Q150V Plus series are fully automated, modular coating systems for the deposition of electrically conductive carbon or metal films recommended for electron microscopic applications at low and medium-high resolutions. The Q150V Plus can be acquired solely as a carbon coater (VE), sputter coater (VS) or as a combined system for carbon and sputter coating (VES). Due to the low background pressure, oxygen, nitrogen and water vapour are removed from the chamber. This helps avoiding chemical reactions during the sputtering process, which could otherwise lead to impurities or defects in the coatings. Lower scattering due to the improved vacuum also allows the deposition of high purity, amorphous carbon films of high density.

The Q150V Plus series offers all the advantages of the Q150T Plus system but can reach finer grain sizes and thinner coatings. This is beneficial for imaging at ultra-high-resolutions in electron microscopy (magnifications > 200 000 x).

Features

Fully automated coating process
(incl. download of process log files in .csv format)
Built-in turbo pump, vacuum down to 5 x 10^-6 mbar
Large sample chamber: 150 mm Ø
Fast turnover times / coating cycles
VE: carbon fibre or rod evaporation, optional:
metal evaporation set-up
VS: sputter coating of noble metals, copper and nickel
VES: a combined system both for sputtering and carbon coating

Further information

The Q150V Plus series is available in three configurations:

Q150V E Plus – an automatic carbon cord coater, can be optionally fitted to evaporate metals
Q150V S Plus – an automatic sputter coater for non-oxidising metals, can be optionally fitted with a glow discharge insert
Q150V ES Plus – a combined system both for sputtering and carbon coating

The different head plates can easily be exchanged within seconds. The unit recognizes the replacement and the operating menu changes accordingly. A touch screen is used to enter coating parameters, display the coating sequence and show error messages. Multiple users can store up to 1000 recipes including all parameters. By awarding access rights, selected parameters can be protected against deletion and unauthorized modification. Only the administrator has access to all settings. A USB-port allows the download of recipes and process logs.

Several optional sample stages ensure the efficient and reproducible coating of samples within a wide range of geometries.

The fully automated process does not require tedious adjustment of a needle valve to control argon gas flow. Instead, the user can control the process vacuum, gas flow is adjusted automatically. Depending on the set gas value (vacuum), the voltage is adjusted accordingly and the desired sputter current (mA) is kept at a constant. This way, samples with strongly irregular topography can also be uniformly coated at low sputtering currents.

The glass chamber can be completely removed, granting easy access to the sample stage and facilitating the cleaning process.

Operating principle: carbon coater
Thin conductive layers of carbon are generated by resistive evaporation of carbon filaments or rods. A current of up to 90 A is needed to evaporate carbon from rod or filament. The pulsed carbon rod/fibre evaporation can be controlled by using an optional film thickness monitor. By evaporating a carbon fibre, up to 20 nm of carbon film can be deposited, whereas with carbon rods, thicknesses from 3 to 15 nm can be reached. Amorphous carbon films evaporated from a carbon rod in a turbo pumped system are much finer and of higher quality than those from a rotary pumped system. High quality carbon films are used as support films or surface replicas in TEM applications or for EBSD and high-resolution SEM applications.

Operating principle: magnetron sputtering
Magnetron sputter coaters (also referred to as "Cool Sputter Coaters") are equipped with a special magnet, which is located in the sputter head (cathode) near the target.

Benefits are:

electrons are available for ionization of further process gas ions
excessive heating is avoided
optimisation of the utilisable target surface

During sputter coating, a vacuum is produced in a vacuum chamber and a process gas, preferably argon, is continuously leaked into the chamber. Argon has an optimal ion size and does not chemically react with other molecules.

Within a vacuum window from approx. 1 x 10^-1 mbar to 5 x 10^-3 mbar, process gas atoms are ionized in an electrical field, which creates a plasma. Positively charged argon atoms are accelerated towards the magnetron head with the target (cathode) and erode target atoms, which reach all surfaces within the vacuum chamber, including the sample to be coated.

The Q150V Plus Series comes equipped with a turbomolecular pump and a special power supply, making it possible to sputter oxidising metals. Films sputtered from such materials exhibit a smaller grain size which allows imaging at higher resolutions in the SEM. In order to sputter oxidising metals like chromium, the oxide layer needs to be removed from the target’s surface (requires a current up to 200 mA) and the atmosphere in the work chamber needs to be oxygen-free.

Specifications

Q150V S / E / ES Plus
Instrument case	585 mm B x 470 mm D x 410 mm H (total height with coating head open: 650 mm)
Weight	33.4 kg
Work chamber	Borosilicate glass 150 mm ID x 133 mm H
Safety shield	Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - cylinder
Display	115.5 mm x 86.4 mm (active area) capacitive touch colour display
User interface	Intuitive full graphical interface with touch screen buttons, includes log of the last 1000 processes and USB-port.
Sputter target	Disc style 57 mm Ø x 0.1 mm thick chromium (Cr) target is fitted as standard. (VS/VES versions only)
Vacuum
Turbomolecular pump	Internally mounted, 70 l/s air-cooled
Rotary pump	50 l/min. two-stage rotary pump with oil mist filter (order separately, see AG-DS102)
Vacuum measurement	Pirani gauge as standard. A full range gauge (10428) is available as an option
Typical ultimate vacuum	∼1x10^-6mbar^*
Pump down time	5x10^-6mbar^* in 30 min
Sputter vacuum range	Between 5x10^-3 and 1x10^-1 mbar
Specimen stage	50 mm Ø rotation stage. Rotation speed 8-20 RPM. For alternative stages see options and accessories
Applications
Sputtering	0–80 mA to a pre-determined thickness (with optional FTM) or by the built-in timer. The maximum sputtering time is 60 minutes (without breaking vacuum and with built in cooling periods)
Carbon evaporation	A robust, ripple free DC power supply featuring pulse evaporation or ensures reproducible carbon evaporation from rod or fibre sources. Current pulse: 1–90 A
Metal evaporation/aperture cleaning insert (option)	or thermal evaporation of metals from filaments or boats. For cleaning SEM or TEM apertures a standard molybdenum boat (supplied) can be fitted. The metal evaporation head is set up for downwards evaporation, but upward evaporation can be achieved by fitting two terminal extensions (supplied).
Further Information
Gases	Argon sputtering process gas, 99.999% (VS and VES versions)
Electrical supply	90–250 V 50/60 Hz 1400 VA including rotary pump power. 110/240 V voltage selectable.
Conformity	CE conformity: Power factor correction. Complies with the current legislation (CE Certification) and ensures efficient use of power, which means reduced running costs
Options and accessories
10879	Carbon rod evaporation insert for 3.05 mm Ø rods (VE and VES only). Includes manual rod shaper and 3.05 mm Ø x 300 mm (pack of ten) carbon rods.
10262	Glow discharge insert. Used to modify surface properties (e.g. hydrophobic to hydrophilic conversion) (VS and VES versions only). Can be retrofitted.
10726	Additional sputter insert for quick metal change (VE and VES versions only). NB: This is an entire sputtering assembly; individual targets can also be purchased.
10360	Variable angle 'Rotacota' rotary planetary specimen stage (rotational speed 8-20 RPM). 50 mm Ø specimen platform with six stub positions for 15 mm, 10 mm, 6.5 mm or 1/8" pin stubs. Stage rotation speed variable between 8–20 RPM.
10357	Variable tilt angle specimen stage with adjustable tilt up to 90˚. 50 mm Ø specimen platform with six stub positions for 15 mm, 10 mm, 6.5 mm or 1/8" pin stubs. Stage rotation speed variable between 8–20 RPM.
10458	Flat rotation specimen stage for 4"/100 mm wafers, includes gear box for increased coverage. Stage rotation speed variable between 8-20 RPM.
10454	Film thickness monitor (FTM) attachment. Including oscillator, feed-through, quartz crystal holder and quartz crystals.
10429	Extended height vacuum chamber (214 mm in height - the standard chamber is 127 mm high). For increased source to specimen distance and for coating large specimens.
10731	Vacuum spigot allows more convenient connection of the vacuum hose to the rear of the Q150V when bench depth is limited.

^*in a clean system after pre-pumping with dry nitrogen gas

Applications

Thermal evaporation of thin carbon layers Thin carbon layers are evaporated onto non-conductive samples in electron microscopy for applications like EDX or WDX to prevent charging of the sample. Carbon has a low x-ray absorption, assuring better detection of x-rays than with metal coatings.

Deposition of thin metal layers Sputter coaters are used to deposit a thin metal layer on the surface of a sample/substrate. For electron microscopy applications, electrically conductive films need to be deposited on non-conductive surfaces, to prevent electrons from the microscope's electron beam from accumulating on the sample surface, causing the latter to become charged. Such a charge would prevent imaging of these surfaces with the SEM. The desired films should be extremely thin, but electrically conductive, with a thickness of 3 - 20 nm.

Advantages of sputter coating and evaporating in high vacuum Chromium or high-vacuum sputter coaters have become more established in the past few years. Their advantages are a virtually clean vacuum, due to the application of a turbomolecular pump, and a powerful magnetron head, capable of removing the oxide layer on the target material. Sputter currents as high as 150 200 mA enable the highly efficient removal of oxide layers on oxidising targets. Rotary pumped sputter coaters do not support sputtering of oxidising metals. The deposition of carbon films also benefits from lower pressure in the work chamber. Under high-vacuum conditions, very thin, amorphous carbon layers can be produced. These can be used as sample support films or to create surface replicas for TEM applications.

Glow discharge Glow discharge is used to alter the properties of sample surfaces. TEM carbon support films are hydrophobic after fabrication. After treatment with glow discharge, they become hydrophilic, thus allowing an even spread of aqueous solutions.