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 oxidizing/ non-oxidizing 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 fiber/rod to coat on samples with non-conductive or poorly conductive surface for electron microscopy imaging or other applications.
Moreover, the thermal head can be used to clean TEM and SEM apertures. This high-vacuum SEM coater equipped with a turbomolecular pump offers high quality uniform films with fine grain sizes, suitable for specimens that require high resolution and high quality characterization such as FE-SEM, EDS/WDS, TEM, and EBSD.
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.
DSCT-T Features
Hardware
- 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 fiber evaporation head
- Thermal evaporation head
- 0-25 A pulsed DC power supply for carbon fiber 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
- Vac Coat products are covered worldwide by both public and product Liability Insurance in case any property damage or personal injury happens caused by the Vac Coat systems.
Automation
- Intuitive touch screen to control the coating process and rapid data input
- User friendly software, updatable 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 fiber/rod deposition process
- Automatic carbon fiber 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
Carbon Evaporation of DSCT-T
Mini-size coating system model DSCT-T, DSCT with Thermal Evaporator, can coat carbon layers to produce uniform thin films on different surfaces using carbon fiber or carbon rod (Optional).
Pulsed Carbon Fiber Evaporation
The DSCT-T coater is able to perform pulsed carbon fiber 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 fiber 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, aluminum, 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” colored 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).
Standard Sample Stage
Rotary Planetary Sample Stage
DSCT-T Specifications
- Suitable for deposition of metals, carbon fiber, 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 ×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
Newly Designed Sample Holder
A new 4-inch rotating sample holder is designed for the system to increase the deposition area and the number of coating stubs in a run (Customizable for max. 50×1 mm stubs).
Options and Accessories
- Carbon evaporation heads for fiber 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 fiber source
- Thermal evaporation sources (Boat/basket)
Applications of DSCT-T
- 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)
