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PLD装置#2の写真
PLD#2 (new k-Pod)
Homemade (components procured individually from various suppliers)
  • Substrate lamp heating (<850°C) - Temperature measurement using a backside thermocouple and a frontside pyrometer
  • Ultimate vacuum: <5x10^-9 Torr (with oxide target)
  • Target mortion (4 targets + clear position) with twist mechanism
  • R-Dec 30 KeV RHEED, homemade analysis software (image + intensity oscillation)
  • Load-lock mechanism (2 samples, 4 targets)
  • ICF152 Pac-Man (6 rotations of shield)
  • Automated control using a homemade LabVIEW program (no script)
(Top left) Homemade PLD control LabVIEW program
(Bottom left) Homemade RHEED image acquisition LabVIEW program
(Top right) Control method for the PLD device and RHEED image acquisition camera via only the USB port
(Bottom right) RHEED intensity oscillations of a (100) SrTiO3 homoepitaxial thin film measured with a homemade program and RHEED image after deposition

Homemade Target, Mask, Sample, and Laser Shutter Control

　The target, mask, sample, and laser shutter  are controlled by stepping motors from Oriental Motor Co., Ltd. Recently, drivers with built-in positioning functions have become available, and by using the master/slave RS485 communication method, these can be independently controlled using just a single USB port. The laser shutter uses the I/O terminals attached to the motor driver.

PLD control program using LabVIEW

   In order to operate the above control mechanism on a PC using a GUI, we are developing a deposition program using LabVIEW. We are assuming use by users of Pascal's off-the-shelf PLD equipment, and have adopted a front panel with a similar appearance.

RHEED image acquisition and analysis program using LabVIEW

  In high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), information on the atomic arrangement and structural relaxation of the surface can be obtained by using the diffraction of an electron beam irradiated onto the surface of a sample.
  However, in thin film synthesis using the PLD method, RHEED is used not for surface structure analysis but for:
1) Evaluation of growth rate and mode from diffraction intensity oscillations during film formation
2) Qualitative evaluation of the quality of substrate and sample surfaces from images before and after film formation
  For these purposes, commercially available analysis software (up to 2 million yen) is over performance. Therefore, we developed a homemade camera and software to store RHEED images and monitor diffraction intensity in real time.
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