Growth Techniques

Our primary deposition methods are Sputtering and Pulsed Laser Deposition. To facilitate our growth processes, we prepare our own targets (Target Room). In addition, we have a deposition chamber for MgB2 designed by Jonathon Giencke.

 

Pulsed Laser Deposition

The Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) chamber has been specially adapted
for growing films in an oxygen environment, while retaining the ability to monitor
the structure using Reflected High Energy Electron Diffraction (RHEED).
This chamber has the ability to control the growth of films on the
sub-unit-cell level. Many materials are grown in this chamber.


The KrF laser has an output power of 1 Watt, which is high enough to instantly
excite any material into a plasma state. This process is commonly called ablation.

In addition, we have a hybrid chamber that can perform PLD or sputtering
which is currently being used to grow PrScO3 (PSO).

Sputtering

Sputtering is a technique which uses the momentum of ionized gas atoms in an applied field to create an atomic flux. This technique is commonly used in industry as it is relatively inexpensive and produces very uniform films. From front to back, these chambers are used to grow PMN-PT, PZT, SrRuO3, and CoFe2O4. In addition, a chamber to grow BiFeO3 is not shown.

 

Target Preparation

In order to grow novel materials, we prepare our own sputtering and ablation targets for both the PLD and sputtering processes. Targets are prepared from powder specimens that are pressed into discs and sintered.

 

MgB2

Our lab also includes a growth chamber for MgB2 that was designed by Jonathon Giencke.