A HIGH-VACUUM AUTOMATIC FACILITY FOR GROWING MULTILAYERED STRUCTURES BY LASER-ABLATION

The design of a high-vacuum automated facility for growing multilayere d interference structures using laser ablation is described. The units which control the quality of the films and the reliability of the fac ility's operation are described. The facility has high-vacuum loading locks through which substrates and targets can be transferred. Targets are ablated by a commercial Nd:YAG Q-switched laser. The vacuum is 10 (-10)-10(-8) torr in the deposition chamber and 10(-7)-10(-6) torr in the locks. The deposition rate is 0.03-0.5 nm/sec, while the total cap acity of the facility is two or three structures per working day. The film thickness is reproducible within +/- 0.8%.