Vapor Deposition Instructions

START UP

1. Put knob in MANUAL position.

2. Turn on nitrogen on TANK (80 psi).

3. SYSTEM ON switch. Make sure SYSTEM ON red light comes.

4. MECHANICAL PUMP switch.

5. Turn thermocouple gauge switch to FORELINE position.

6. When FORELINE pressure goes to ~50 m torr, depress BACK VALVE switch.

7. Wait until FORELINE pressure reads 30-40 m torr, then turn HI-VAC PUMP on. Allow pump to achieve max speed (green light at the bottom will stop blinking when at max speed, 1000).

8. When FORELINE pressure goes to 20 m torr, close BACK VALVE and open ROUGH VALVE.

9. Turn thermocouple selection switch to CHAMBER position.

AUTO VENT

1. Make sure HIGH VACUUM GAUGE is OFF (Far right switch on the gray portion below the Inficon deposition monitor).

2. Switch on nitrogen on the 2nd tank and turn to AUTO VENT. (Rough valve will close and back valve open automatically)

3. Wait until vacuum has reduced to open chamber. Then switch off nitrogen on the 2nd tank. Put slides in. Do not screw in holders too tight.

4. Put new Au pieces to the holder on the left (3-4 depending on how much you’re depositing, and the size of the chips). It may be helpful to move the shutter to get better depositions. To open the shutter, turn on Inficon monitor and depress OPEN SHUTTER. Cr is good for 3-4 depositions. When Cr is green, remove it and put a new batch in.

5. Turn on ROTARY POWER on and leave it on for deposition (about 1/5 turn). Should check the following things before close the door: (i) Gold (ii) Cr (iii) rotation (iv) crystal thickness (if crystal thickness is >10%, change to a new one).

DEPOSITION:

1. Turn to AUTO PUMP.

2. Turn on the HIGH VACUUM GAUGE when the CHAMBER pressure goes below 0 m torr.

3. Add liquid N2 and wait until HIGH VACUUM GAUGE gets to between 1E-6 and 1E-7 (lower the better).

4. Turn on Inficon deposition monitor, press PROGRAM toggle using the arrows to get to FILM, select 1 for Cr, then ENTER to get back to main screen.

5. On VD select RIGHT for Cr or LEFT for Au.

6. Turn on water just a crack.

7. Turn on FIL/GLOW power switch.

8. Deposit Cr first. If height begins with negative number, ZERO it until only a positive change in height is observed. Begin deposition by turning on current and slowly moving it up. Cr deposits at 0.1 A/s, height 0.01 kA. When nearing 0.01 kA, turn down current and turn off FIL/ GLOW power switch.

9. For Au, Repeat step 7 &8, but remember to select 2 for Au on the Inficon monitor, adjust VD to LEFT, and OPEN SHUTTER. Also, the Au deposits at 1.0 A/s, height 0.450 kA.

10. Turn off FIL/GLOW power switch.

11. Wait 10 min, then turn off HIGH VACUUM GAUGE and ROTARY POWER.

12. Turn on nitrogen on the wall, then go to AUTO VENT.

13. Once the pressure for the chamber door is released, turn the nitrogen off, and then open the chamber door.

14. Take out your slides, put the sample holder back to the top.

SHUTTING DOWN:

1. Turn off water on the wall.

2. Move to AUTO PUMP and wait until switches to BACK VALVE (the switching will happen automatically). Thermocoupler gauge will go down to ~0 mtorr. Then to MANUAL.

3. Turn off HIGH VAC PUMP. Wait until green light flashes (Wait at least 20 minutes for the actual rotary to go to 0 Hz. The green light will begin to flash around 100 Hz, so do NOT use this as an indication to move on).

4. Turn off MECHANICAL PUMP; turn off Inficon deposition monitor.

5. Manually vent by using switch under the HIGH VACUUM GAUGE.

6. CONTROL OFF and nitrogen on the TANK.