Pioneer 120 Advanced PLD System

Special Features

• Stand-alone turn-key PLD System.
• Deposition of epitaxial films, multilayer heterostructures and Superlattices.
• Deposition of nanoscale thin films using insitu RHEED diagnostics.
• Oxygen compatibility for Oxide film depositions.
• Upgrades: Load-lock, Laser Heater, RF/DC Sputtering, Combinatorial PLD
• Integration with UHV Sputter Systems.
• Integration with XPS /ARPES UHV Cluster tools.

Overview

Pioneer 120 Advanced PLD System is a stand-alone system for preparing high quality epitaxial films, multi-layer heterostructures and superlattices of a variety of materials. The primary difference between this PLD system and the Pioneer 120 PLD System is the substrate heating stage. Pioneer 120 uses a conductive heating stage where as Pioneer 120 Advanced PLD system uses a radiative heating stage. The heater is Oxygen compatible up to 1 atmosphere (760 Torr) of Oxygen, a unique feature valuable for preparing epitaxial oxide films that require (i) deposition in Oxygen, (ii) post deposition annealing in Oxygen and also cool-down in Oxygen pressures approaching 1 atmosphere. Since the substrates are not in direct contact with the heater, the substrates can be rotated, 360 degrees continuously. The substrates can also be load-locked.

Pioneer 120 Advanced PLD System includes an automated multi-target carousel with target rotation, target raster and software controlled target selection as needed for multilayer and superlattice depositions. A closed loop pressure control provides precise process pressure control using mass flow controllers. The dry pumping package is a combined turbomolecular pump backed by a mechanical diaphragm or scroll pump. The System software (Windows 7, LabView 2013) controls the substrate heater, target carousel, process pressure, system pumps and laser triggering. Since the substrate can be transferred, a variety of options become feasible. These include but not limited to integrating the PLD system with a variety of other deposition platforms such as UHV Sputter Systems and also with UHV analytical systems such as XPS/ARPES etc.