Instrumentation

  • ArF excimer laser (Lambda Physik LPX 300) with 900 mJ/pulse at 193 nm.
  • KrF excimer laser (Lambda Physik LPX 300) with 1200 mJ/pulse at 248 nm.
  • ArF excimer laser (Lambda Physik LPX 100) with 350 mJ/pulse at 193 nm.
  • KrF excimer laser (Lambda Physik LPX 100) with 400 mJ/pulse at 248 nm.
  • XeCl excimer laser (Lambda Physik COMPex) with 400 mJ/pulse at 308 nm.
  • Nd:YAG laser (Quantel Brilliant B) with 850 mJ/pulse at 1064 nm, 400 mJ/pulse at 532 nm, 160 mJ/pulse at 355 nm and 90 mJ/pulse at 266 nm.
  • Ar+ laser (Coherent Innova 300C FreD), multi line, including UV (doubling of 488 nm) with 0.1 W at 244 nm.
  • Ti:Sapphire (Coherent 899 Ring Laser for Raman), 680-1100 nm (line widths < 2 GHz)
  • CO2 laser, tunable, CW or pulsed (40 W).

Set-up for Xe2* at 172 nm

Xe2* glow discharge at 172nm.
222nm.jpg

KrCl* glow discharge at 222nm.
308nm.jpg

XeCl* glow discharge at 308nm.

At present, we run four ablation chambers dedicated to different deposition requirements and one vacuum chamber for LIFT.

1. High vacuum chamber for pulsed laser deposition

  • One cylindrical target
  • Synchronized reactive gas pulse (designed and built: University Zurich)
  • Quartz micro balance
  • Plasma beam (designed and built at the National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, NILPRP, Romania)
  • Ion (Langmuir) probe
  • Usable gases for background: O2, N2O, Ar, N2, NH3, NF3
  • Option for all chambers: ns-Plasma imaging at tuneable wavelengths between 400 and 1000 nm (Camera by Andor, AOTF by Brimrose)

2. High vacuum chamber for pulsed laser deposition

  • One cylindrical target
  • One disc target
  • Option to use frozen liquids as targets (MAPLE)
  • Quartz micro balance
  • Usable gases for background: O2, N2O, Ar, N2
  • Option for all chambers: ns-Plasma imaging at tuneable wavelengths between 400 and 1000 nm (Camera by Andor, AOTF by Brimrose)

3. Ultra high vacuum chamber for pulsed laser deposition

  • 5 computer controlled cylindrical targets (PSI designed and built)
  • Optional: 1 computer controlled pellet target (PSI designed and built) for RT and 77K
  • Computer controlled substrate manipulator with x,y,z and 2 rotational movements for temperatures from 120 K to 1100 K (designed and build by PREVAC)
  • Substrate holder for heating and cooling, applicable for pulsed laser deposition (designed and build by PREVAC) for temperatures up to 1100 K and pressure up to 1 bar (oxygen)
  • Quartz micro balance (mechanical design from PREVAC, Oscillator, PLO-10i from BeamTec-MaxTec)
  • Synchronized reactive gas pulse (University Zurich designed and built)
  • Plasma beam (designed and built at the National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, (NILPRP), Romania and modfied for UHV at PSI)
  • Ion-probe (distance and angle resolved) (PSI designed and built, probe built at Risoe National Institute, Denmark)
  • Meta-stable detector (distance and angle resolved) (PSI designed and built)
  • Plasma analysis using a mass spectrometer (energy, distance, time and angle resolved; EQP-from Hiden) also utilized for SIMS
  • Ion gun for in-situ SIMS analysis with flood gun (IG 20 from Hiden, flood gun by PREVAC)
  • Load-lock system with battery pumped transfer vessel (from PREVAC)
  • Optical plasma analysis of the laser induced emission spectrum with time and space resolution using a gated-ICCD connected to a high resolution monochromator with various gratings (150 up to 1800 lines per inch) for wavelengths between 200 and 900 nm
  • Optical plasma analysis of the laser induced emission spectrum using an imaging set-up. The camera provides time (ns) and spatial resolution (mm), the acusto-optical filters (AOTF) a frequency resolution between 400 and 1000 nm.
  • Usable gases for background: O2, N2O, Ar, N2
  • Option for all chambers: ns-Plasma imaging at tuneable wavelengths between 400 and 1000 nm (Camera by Andor, AOTF by Brimrose)

4. Ultra high vacuum chamber for pulsed laser deposition (design and build by TSST)

  • Five disc targets, computer controlled
  • High-pressure RHEED system (RHEED: Staib, RHEED Software: k-Space)
  • Multibeam-Optical System (MOS) usable together with RHEED during PLD for stress monitoring (MOS: k-Space)
  • DC-sputtering
  • Usable gases for background: O2, N2O, Ar, N2

5. Vacuum chamber for laser induced forward transfer

  • Computer controlled substrate manipulator (x,y)
  • Vacuum to ambient pressure for various gases
  • Optical access perpendicular and along the laser axis.

6. Laser induced forward transfer (LIFT) setup



1 / 5
HV chamber with gas pulse for PLD
2 / 5
HV chamber for PLD
3 / 5
UHV PLD chamber for mass spectrometry and optical spectroscopy
4 / 5
UHV PLD chamber with RHEED and MOSS (design and build by TSST, NL)
5 / 5
Vacuum chamber for LIFT



  • Precision polishing/lapping (Unipol 801, MTI Corporation)
  • Spin coater with dispenser (SCS P6708)
  • Draw blade applicator for film master blading
  • High speed mixing (Ika, Ultra-Turrax T25)

1. Techniques for analysis after irradiation

  • Profilometer (Veeco, Dektak 8) for measurements of surface profiles and roughness.
  • Scanning electron and standard optical (video) microscopy
  • Raman-microscopy (imaging, Jobin Yvon): with a highest spatial resolution of 1 micron3. Sample heating up to 1200 K under inert gas is also possible.
  • High resolution Raman spectroscopy: possible for different laser lines (Ar+ laser + RingLaser, see above) and measurements close to the Raleigh line ~ 5-10 cm-1) and temperatures from 4 K to 300 K.
  • X-ray diffraction (XRD, Siemens D500, Cu anode) for standard θ-2θ and small angle reflectometry.
  • Seifert diffractometer (four circle, Cu Kα1). Booking page
  • Optical plasma analysis (Laser induced emission (breakdown) spectroscopy or LIBS) by time integration of the emission spectrum. This non-vacuum spectroscopic technique is used e.g. for a trace element analysis of the laser induced plasma.
  • Dynamic and static SIMS (Hiden EQS) with argon and oxygen ions. Best lateral resolution 100 microns; depth profiling and compositional analysis.
  • Quartz micro balances for measurement of ablation or deposition rates.
  • UV/Vis/near-IR Spectrometer (Varian Cary 500) to measure diffuse reflectance (Labsphere, DRA-CA-50) and transmission.
  • Hall measurement system (Ecopia HMS 3000) at RT and 77 K with 0.5 Tesla magnet.
  • Keithley current source, voltmeter for R(T) measurements
  • Agilent LCZ-meter - ε(T)

Profilometer (Veeco, Dektak 8)

X-ray diffraction (XRD, Siemens D500).

UV/Vis/near-IR Spectrometer (Varian Cary 500)

Seifert four-circle diffractometer for recipical space mapping.

2. Time-resolved (ns to ms) analytical techniques

  • Optical plasma analysis of the laser induced emission spectrum with time and space resolution using a gated-ICCD connected to a high resolution monochromator with various gratings (150 up to 1800 lines per inch) for wavelengths between 200 and 900 nm
  • Optical plasma analysis of the laser induced emission spectrum using an imaging set-up. The camera provides time (ns) and spatial resolution (mm), the acusto-optical filters (AOTF) a frequency resolution between 400 and 1000 nm.
  • Shadowgraphy for dynamic observation of the gas phase above the sample after laser irradiation
  • Surface interferometry for dynamic changes of the sample surface morphology after laser irradiation
  • Ion probes (Langmuir probes) for plasma analysis (time, space and angle resolved)
  • Plasma analysis using a mass spectrometer (energy, distance, time and angle resolved; EQP-from Hiden)

3. Other analytical techniques available in the Research Division Energy and Environment

  • DRIFT, FT-Raman, quadrupole mass spectrometry, Auger-spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), atomic force microscopy (AFM), spectroscopic ellipsometry, and many other techniques available in a large research institute.