| AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Vacuum Technology Division | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session VT-WeM |
| Session: | Transfer and Ultraclean Systems, Particle Control, and History |
| Presenter: | Urs Maier, Ferrovac GmbH, Switzerland |
| Authors: | U. Maier, Ferrovac GmbH, Switzerland S.A. Köster, Ferrovac GmbH, Switzerland D. von Gunten, Ferrovac GmbH, Switzerland S. Yoshizawa, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan T. Uchihashi, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan S. Rauschenbach, Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research, Germany |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
To answer demanding questions in the characterization and analysis of sample surfaces a variety of high performance atomically precise methods are available. Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), focused ion beams (FIB), electrospray ion beam deposition (ES-IBD) or even vitrification of biological samples can fabricate surfaces of great complexity with atomic/molecular precision. Similarly, analytical methods like scanning probe microscopy (SPM), electron microscopy (SEM/TEM), photo- or electron spectroscopy (e.g. XPS), low energy electron holography or secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) provide spatial or chemical insight of highest precision. A combination of these methods is often desirable while these methods require a clean environment, typically ultrahigh vacuum (UHV, 10-10 mbar) and sometimes cryogenic conditions to maintain the sample in a state that allows for meaningful results.
A sample transfer with undisrupted vacuum and cryogenic conditions cannot always be achieved via a direct linkage between the instruments. More complex combinations, involving many different methods, are often impractical. The ability to transfer samples under well controlled environmental (UHV) and thermal conditions between independent analytical systems therefore greatly extends possible applications of the instrumentation.
Here we present the NexGeneration UHV suitcase system that allows to transport samples in UHV environment between instruments of even far separated facilities. The system consists of a lightweight and readily transportable vacuum chamber (the suitcase) which is actively pumped by a combination of a getter/ion pump (SAES, NEXTorr) using a battery powered controller which allow for up to 2 days off-grid operation. The transfer is facilitated via loadlocks attachable to arbitrary systems. The suitcase is of modular configuration allowing the addition of sample storage positions, adaptation to different carriers, as well as choosing from different types of sample transporters to handle the sample. Above all, a cryogenic variant of the suitcase has recently been developed, in which samples are actively cooled down to -190°C on a liquid nitrogen cooled stage situated within a thermal shield.
In the presentation we show our implementation of a sample transfer with the NexGeneration UHV suitcase system and show configurations established for different research groups. We further present data measured from samples transported within our suitcase that shows the cleanliness expected from samples that were maintained in UHV, clearly showing the capability of our system for a large variety of applications.