Orchidians,
If you ever wanted to try a thin coating of titanium in your metal
work, then I have an opportunity for you.
The power supply emission control for electron beam evaporation is
getting too shaky in the local mode. I need to switch over to
"remote" with the deposition controller. Since I have little
experience using this mode, I don’t wish to practice with actual
process runs. I selected, installed, and repaired this machine
myself. I am alone in anything it needs.
I selected Ti, because it has “good stick” from emission spikes and
won’t pop Ti beads all over the source tray. It is relatively cheap
too. Anyway, I need practice and the chamber is empty.
The process is like spraying paint from an aerosol can only the
"paint" is metal. It is a cold process, therefore it won’t melt
plastic. I have actually coated plastic many times (Cu, Cr, Au, Ti).
Titanium will stick to most anything that is clean. It is used as an
adhesion layer in many cases. There are only two drawbacks that come
to mind. The deposition is from one direction, so it can’t coat the
back of a sample. It is also a very thin layer! Any deposit less than
800 angstroms and you can see right through it. I only plan to do a
few coatings of 1000A to 5000A (0.5 micrometer).
I will probably do these runs sometime before the end of the year.
It is free, and closes when the chamber space is filled. If you have
any questions, just email me offline.
Jeff Simkins