Ok, Quohog to some of you. Big clamshell in any case. Without hardly any encouragement from blog-reading fans, we decided to see if we could make an even less complicated, even easier to use little vacuum deposition tool for OLEDs (glove box integrated), general lab use, and all the good things that thousands of CV-300, 301, 302 have been so noted for.
Most of our small systems have been bell jar-on-baseplate, and all the early ones were diffusion pumped, with liquid nitrogen traps. Newer systems had turbo pumps, all sorts of chambers, but kept the same 3-valve architecture, and a baseplate. Over time, several things have happened: Pyrex bell jars became expensive, so did liquid nitrogen, and despite competition, vacuum valves remained stupidly costly, even our own ones. More of our systems sprouted stainless bell jars, we made box chambers even for small stuff, and the special requirements of OLED or other glove-box imbedded systems drove other requirements. But prices crept up inexorably.
So we now have a clamshell chamber, recessed flush with a table top, or a glove box floor, with a simple, hinged lid. The vacuum system is turbo, backed by a dry pump, and mirabile dictu, it doesn’t need any expensive valves or stuff to control them! You turn it all on to pump down, and vent it all to open it up. One switch. Pretty much like the integrated pump packages the big companies sell, except with a versatile chamber, a wide-range gauge, and evaporation, sputtering or plasma hardware.
The older amongst you might see echoes of that inspired antique Temescal 1800 design, which we have also shamelessly copied in the past for quartz crystal basecoating systems. The idea was to put the sample level right in front of the operator, and recess the chamber down below, eliminating the stretching and climbing that big bell jar systems needed, not to mention the headroom! This time, it’s a 12″ diameter chamber, all stainless, with a flange thats convertible between glove box and plain table mounting, our oversized 2kW power supply, much more access than possible with a bell jar, and your choice of process and analytical bits.
Right now, we see two basic variants; small turbo and bigger one. Something around 70 l/s and 250 l/s. No cooling water, no compressed air, no LN2. Price tag, low. Stay tuned for dimensional sketches, and, as usual, call or email me 203-853-9500 cooke@snet.net with your wish list. Anything at all can be built into a small system, but we’re looking for maximum utility in the largest number of applications, so tell me.
Posted by Richard Stein 