[3dem] Carbon evaporator for SPA

[Eugene Pichkur]

Long story short, high vacuum is necessary for fine grains, so a
turbo/diffusion pump is a must have.

Leica EM ACE600 is not a reliable machine, we have several problems with
it, especially with the thickness monitor. I know several other labs where
people are also not happy with it for similar reasons.
Quorum Q150V is a simple and nice machine, I had no problems with it in
several labs and used it for thin carbon film deposition, that was
successfully used for SPA work (EMD-10655). I would go with the Q150V ES
Plus version just to be able to deposit films onto the surface of samples
for SEM. But I haven't managed to get the same quality of the film as in
Quantifoil+2nm grids (these things are very-very thin and nice) but that
totally depends on your skills.
On paper the Cressington Turbo Carbon Coater 208 Carbon looks fine too, I
used it once and the result was ok.

An ultimate machine would be an R&D class deposition system with the e-beam
gold evaporation, but the price is eye-watering.

Best,
Eugene


On Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 12:44 PM Jasnin, Marion <jasnin at biochem.mpg.de>
wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> we are in the process of buying a carbon evaporator for producing
> additional 5-15nm support films in SPA. Our experience in making carbon
> films is based on older machines that are no longer available. So far, we
> got two quotes more on the high-end side of the instrument spectrum but
> considering the good quality films we were able to produce with the old
> machines we are wondering if such an investment is necessary for SPA:
>
> Leica EM ACE600 Carbon Thread Coater
> * Carbon thread evaporation
> * Oil free UHV pump system with turbomolecular pump
> * Quartz crystal thickness measurement
> * Sample stage rotation
>
> Quorum Q150V E Plus
> * Carbon rod evaporation
> * Oil free UHV pump system with turbomolecular pump
> * Quartz crystal thickness measurement
> * Sample stage rotation
>
> Much cheaper options like the Leica EM ACE200 exist. We would appreciate
> some advice on how important expensive features like ultra high vacuum or
> sample stage rotation really are for SPA.  Hints which instrument you are
> successfully using for this application would also be very helpful.
>
> Thank you,
> Cheers,
> Marion
>
>
> --
>
> Marion Jasnin
> Principal Investigator
> Helmholtz Pioneer Campus
> Helmholtz Munich
> Ingolstädter Landstraße 1
> 85764 Neuherberg near Munich
> Germany
> Phone: +49 (0)89 3187 43896
> marion.jasnin at helmholtz-munich.de
>
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