Neocera was founded by Dr. Venkatesan in 1989 as a commercial vehicle for conveying technological expertise in complex multi-component metal-oxide thin film materials using Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD). Neocera continues to develop PLD equipment and processes that result in products of high value to the customer. Neocera remains active in materials research, leading the application of PLD into new material systems, and participating directly in the transition from PLD processes from the research laboratory to the industrial marketplace. Neocera added Pulsed Electron Deposition (PED) as a complementary technique to PLD in 2001. Our mission is to become researchers’ and manufacturers’ first choice for PLD and PED equipment. Neocera PLD/PED systems can be found in Universities, National Research Laboratories and Corporate R&D Centers in over 30 countries around the world.
Neocera is a Pioneer in the development of PLD technology. We are the largest supplier of PLD and PED tools for R&D and have integrated our tools with other deposition technologies and insitu analytical Systems creating custom solutions. Neocera-developed insitu real-time diagnostics equip the researcher with the tools needed for the development and application of advanced materials and novel interfaces. Neocera PLD customers benefit not only from the state-of-the-art equipment, but also unsurpassed technical expertise in the deposition of high quality thin films. Whether the requirement is for the application of a standard Neocera system or the development of a custom solution, Neocera’s experienced researchers and engineers are involved in the development process every step of the way, ensuring that the systems and processes developed will meet your critical requirements.
Neocera brings together many years of experience and expertise in the design of vacuum systems, process development, electronics and software to deliver systems that meet stringent requirements of reliability, usability and performance.
Neocera’s extensive research using PLD established critical parameters to maximize thin film quality, especially for the deposition of epitaxial complex oxide thin films. These considerations have been incorporated into the Pioneer system design. For example, many complex oxide thin films after deposition at high temperatures benefit from cooling down in a relatively high pressure (100 -500 Torr) of Oxygen. All Pioneer system are designed to operate in the full pressure range from their rated base pressure to atmospheric pressure. Multi target carousels with target rotation and target rastering schemes produce uniform ablation over the entire surface of the target and eliminates the need for resurfacing the target. To eliminate the concern of carbon contamination affecting film quality, oil-free pumping stacks are standard on all Pioneer systems.
Pioneer PLD systems use a laser beam angle of incidence of 45º, preserving optimum uniformity of laser fluence on the target without resorting to complex and costly optical elements. Shallow angles of incidence can cause the laser spot to elongate on the target, resulting in loss of fluence uniformity.