As shown recently in the picture of the winter 2023 issue of NASA’s Cutting Edge magazine, on page 8, we’re pleased to have supplied a mini-plasma source to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre for space based atomic layer deposition (ALD) experiments. The experiments are scheduled for space flight later in the year. The above picture shows the ALD system under test at our Meaglow facility where some successful preliminary experiments were carried out. The smaller picture to the left shows a nitrogen plasma generated with the source at about 30 watts of power. Because of the limited payload available for the spaceflight, we helped to keep the ALD system design within what will eventually be an 8″ x 8″ x 8″ cube. We also supplied a small manual matching box and an even smaller 13.56 MHz RF power supply, which we hope may also be used.
Based on our NASA design we will be offering the mini-plasma source as a low cost option for small deposition systems. There will be a KF16 flange version, called the Series 16, and a 1.33″ conflat UHV version. The plasma sources are ready now, but we’re also trying to provide a low cost RF power solution, something a bit more powerful than what we supplied to NASA with its limited space options, about 80-100 watts. We have now found a suitable RF amplifier, but are still sourcing suitable components for the pre-amplifer. The current version of the system, still needing some modification, is shown under test, below.
Meaglow continues to provide the next generation of deposition and epitaxy solutions.
