DSCT-T – Sputter Coater and Carbon/Thermal Evaporator

DSCT-T – Sputter Coater and Carbon/Thermal Evaporator

The sputter coater and carbon/thermal evaporator – DSCT-T is configured as a sputter coater, carbon coater, and thermal evaporator with three interchangeable heads in one instrument suitable for scanning electron microscope (SEM) sample preparation and deposition of a wide range of oxidising/ non-oxidising materials (deposition material table) such as gold (Au), platinum/palladium (Pt/Pd) alloy, silver (Ag), chromium (Cr), tungsten (W), iridium (Ir), etc., together with thermal evaporation of different sources like metals or carbon fibre/rod to coat on samples with non-conductive or poorly conductive surface for electron microscopy imaging or other applications.

Manufacturer

Vac Coat

Vac Coat Limited is a designer and manufacturer of high-quality tailor-made Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) and Vacuum Coating Systems with excellent customer care and after sale services. Equipped with more than 25 years’ experience in the vacuum and Thin Film deposition technologies. Their research and development team supported by academic scientists and qualified engineers are highly active to develop new designs and meet special inquiries received from clients. Designed and manufactured components by Vac Coat's engineering team meets high-quality standards. Their vacuum coating systems have been sold to many universities and research centres through distributors worldwide with very good references and feedback.

Key Features

  • High vacuum level with built-in turbomolecular pump 90 l/s (Leybold)
  • Two stage rotary vane backing pump (diaphragm and scroll pump)
  • 80 W sputtering switching DC power supply
  • Carbon fibre evaporation head
  • 0-25 A pulsed DC power supply for carbon fibre evaporation
  • 0-100 A DC power supply for carbon rod evaporation (optional)
  • Full range vacuum gauge (Leybold)
  • Quartz crystal thickness monitor with precision of 1 nm and resolution of 1 Å
  • One 2-inch magnetron cathode
  • Automatic venting valve
  • Sample rotation, height, and tilt adjustable
  • Planetary sample holder (optional)
  • Electronic shutter
  • Easy-to-change specimen stages (rotation stage as standard)
  • Two-year warranty
  • CE conformity
  • Intuitive touch screen to control the coating process and rapid data input
  • User friendly software that can be updated via network
  • Repeatable and programmable coating process in the automatic mode
  • Semi-full automatic sputtering deposition process in timed or thickness modes
  • Semi-full automatic carbon fibre/rod deposition process
  • Automatic carbon fibre coating in flash or pulsed modes
  • Automatic carbon rod coating in pulsed or ramped modes
  • Records and plots coating parameters graphs
  • Storing coating recipes for repeatable depositions

Overview

The DSCT-T is equipped with a turbomolecular pump which offers high quality uniform films with fine grain sizes, suitable for specimens that require high resolution and high quality characterisation such as FE-SEM, EDS/WDS, TEM, and EBSD.

The DSCT-T has a 2” magnetron cathode and is supplied with a high voltage switching DC power supply for sputtering and a high current power supply for carbon evaporation and thermal evaporation, hence could be used for research areas concerning different thin film applications such as micro and nano electronic and sample preparation.
 
DSCT-T can be equipped with a water-cooled cathode which makes it suitable for long time sputtering deposition. Also, DSCT-T can be provided with a 160 W power supply to facilitate sputtering of targets like chromium, tungsten, and other oxidising metal targets (optional).
 
The full-automatic sputter and carbon coating processes allows easy, precise, and repeatable performance. The maximum size of the substrates in this model could be 4 inches.

Pulsed Carbon Fibre Evaporation

The DSCT-T coater is able to perform pulsed carbon fibre evaporation. Short pulses provide more controlled deposition and significantly reduces the amount of debris associated with traditional carbon deposition.

Carbon Rod Evaporation (Optional)

The DSCT-T could be equipped with carbon rod evaporator head (optional). For this case an external 0-100 A high current power supply should be used instead of the internal high current power supply which is designed for carbon fibre evaporation.

Thermal Evaporation

The DSCT-T, sputter coater and carbon/thermal evaporator, is equipped with a thermal head for evaporation of metals with low evaporation temperature such as gold, aluminium, silver, etc., as well as TEM apertures cleaning.

One thermal source (boat or basket) with a length of 4-10 cm can be fit on the thermal evaporation head. The height of the thermal source from the sample holder is adjustable. Thermal evaporation provides a wide range of applications, such as fabrication of metal films, thin-film sensors, optical components, nano and microelectronic devices, and solar cells.

Clean Vacuum

The vacuum chamber consists of a portable cylindrical Pyrex. The DSCT-T is fitted with an internally mounted 90 L/s turbo molecular pump, backed by a 6 m3/h two-stage rotary vane pump. It introduces clean vacuum without oil contamination which normally exists with ordinary diffusion pump.

Touch Screen Control

DSCT-T is equipped with a 7” coloured touch-screen panel and full automatic control using a user-friendly software to control and adjust the deposition process data. The vacuum and coating sequence information can be observed as digital data or curves on the touch screen.  The last 300 coatings information is saved on the history page.

Sample Holder Stages

The DSCT-T can be equipped with different sample stage configurations depending on the user requirements. The standard sample stage is rotatable with adjustable height and angle and can be changed easily. The rotary planetary sample stage is a good choice for uniform coating of porous specimens (optional).

Specifications

  • Suitable for deposition of metals, carbon fibre, and rod (Optional)
  • Precise control over coating rate and pressure to achieve finer grain structure
  • 170 mm OD × 140 mm H vacuum chamber
  • Dimensions: 54 cm H × 50 cm W × 45 cm D
  • Ultimate vacuum: Less than 8 x 10-6 Torr
  • Automatic control of the cathode’s temperature to protect the lifetime of the magnets
  • Rapid data input through fully automatic touch screen panel
  • Real-time plot of coating parameters
  • Deposition process data transfer to PC by USB port
  • Utilities: 220 V/110 V, 50/60 HZ – 2 kW
  • Shipping weight (Included vacuum pump): 46 Kg

Applications

  • Fine grain structural deposition of noble metals for SEM, FE-SEM, EDX, and TEM sample preparation
  • Nano and microelectronic
  • Conductive layers
  • Thin film sensors
  • Solar cells
  • Optical components
  • GLAD sputtering
  • TEM grid plasma treatment (optional)

Options

  • Carbon evaporation heads for fibre or rod
  • High current power supply
  • Quartz crystal sensor
  • Planetary sample rotation stage
  • Spare cylindrical vacuum glass chamber
  • Sputtering targets
  • Sealing gaskets
  • Plasma cleaner
  • Carbon fibre source
  • Thermal evaporation sources (boat/basket)

Service Support

Comprehensive repairs and servicing

Annual Support Programs

Your metrology instrumentation is a major investment that is critical to your business operation and success. In today’s competitive climate, it is more important than ever to extend the functionality and peak performance of your metrology equipment years beyond the expiration of your factory warranty. CN Tech’s Support Programs will help ensure that your investment is protected, and that you and your instrument’s are always operating at peak performance.

With over 20 years’ experience servicing and repairing you can be assured that your system is in safe hands. The independent services we offer include system relocation, maintenance visits, parts and consumables, and break down interventions.

CN Tech’s Support Programs are an economical way to guarantee optimal working condition:

  • Annual Preventive Maintenance
  • Priority Technical Assistance
  • Preferred Parts Availability
  • On-Site User Training
  • Remote Diagnostics
  • No surprise repair expense and much more!

Support Contact Example

An example of our service and support contracts are shown below:

Brochures

Metrology & Instrumentation Annual Support Programs 2024/25

CN Tech's Support Programs will help ensure that your investment is protected, and that you and your instrument’s are always operating at peak performance.

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