Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Low cost QCM quartz crystal microbalance for HV- and UHV applications. The MTM-10 quartz crystal monitor system is a small reliable system for measuring film thickness during deposition. It is intended for manual control of the deposition process. The controller is capable of storing physical properties for two different material and two tooling factors. Both the UHV and HV versions use the same 6 MHz oscillator and high accuracy quartz microbalance controller, offering a resolution of 0,1 nm (at 0.5 g/cm³ density x tooling factor 2). The update rate is 5 Hz. 

The UHV compatible quartz crystal measurement head is mounted on a CF-35 (2.75"OD) rotatable flange and has easy to bend water cooling lines. This allows trouble free positioning of the head close to the sample. The flange includes the necessary coaxial feedthrough and water cooling lines.

Besides the buttons for density and tooling factors the MTM-10 quartz microbalance controller has a bright digital display, quartz crystal check and zeroing button on the front panel. On the rear panel is the quartz crystal input, analog output, sensitivity and recorder calibration switch.
 

The 6 MHz Oscillator is positioned directly onto the feedthrough of the flange to minimise cable length between head and oscillator.
 
 

Quartz Crystal Rate Monitors and Controllers

IL150 Quartz Crystal Growth Rate Monitor 

A particular feature of the IL150 Quartz Crystal Growth Rate Monitor is that it is capable of displaying both positive and negative shifts. This enables the instrument to be used in certain etching operations and also allows the operator to observe and therefore compensate for flash-heating effects.

 
 

Specifications of IL150 quartz crystal rate monitor:

Displays for thickness and deposition rates:	4 digit, 0.5"LED's
Thickness Range:	0.0 nm to 999.9 microns
Thickness Resolution:	0.1nm
Rate of Deposition Range:	0.0 nm/s to 999.9 nm/s (negative signs indicates negative deposition rate, i.e. when etching
Shutter Closure:	Predictive termination using current rate and last thickness measured
Film parameters recordable in memory:
Density:	0.1 to 99.9 g/cm3
Acoustic Impedance:	1.0 to 99.9 * 10 (power 5) g/cm3
Terminal Thickness:	0.1 nm to 999.9 microns
Tooling Factor (for each sensor head):	0.01 to 99.9
Crystal use:	Displayed as kHz below 6 MHz
Shutter relay contact rating:	2 A, 250 V, AC or DC
Analog output of thickness or rate:	0 - 1 V
Size:	210 mm wide, 70 mm high plus 16 mm feet, 260 mm deep. Rack mounting panel is 2U high * 1/2 19" space wide, allowing one or two units to be mounted side by side.

IL820 Quartz Crystal Growth Rate Controller

Flexibility in Process Programming

Within the IL820 this synchronization is achieved through commands embedded at any point in the process. These commands can be either in hardware (through the input/output plug-in board) or in software (through the RS232 or IEEE options).

The fundamental action of the IL820 controller is to run a PROCESS. A PROCESS consists of up to 30 steps, each of which can consist of an individual action programmed using a two letter mnemonic.

The IL820 quartz crystal process controller is a fully featured rate controller meeting the most demanding of today's thin film deposition needs. The instrument has been tested against instruments five times its price and outperforms all of them on rate control - and we can prove it.. The unit features a comprehensive sequencing suite allowing multi-layer deposition with full support for loop operations. The IL820 is different from any other thin film deposition controller in that the process profile is totally flexible. Both hardware and software handshakes are supported and allow communication between instruments at a high level.

The resolution of the instrument sets new standards (better than 0.001nm/s for Copper). The unit is programmed using any combination of two letter mnemonics such as 'PR' for power ramp or 'WT' for wait and 9 Materials and 9 Processes can then be repeated in any order within a 99 position sequence. Loops both within the sequence and within the process itself are fully supported. In spite of the units' clever features the core function is that of a quartz crystal controller and it is the quality of this key capability that has made the unit indispensable at demanding installations around the world. One example are High Tc superconducting films where the IL820 has achieved rate control for Yttrium at 0.02 nm/s with a precision of 0.002 nm/s. Long term drift in control was less than 1%.

...and Software

Please contact our Sales team for a quotation.

Detailed Specification of Quartz Crystal Microbalance controller: