MRI-R2: Acquisition of an Electron-Beam Evaporator for Undergraduate Research

Amherst College, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

0958900 Friedman Amherst College Technical Abstract This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The deposition of high-quality metallic films is indispensable for a variety of research purposes, including superconducting-device physics, the production of research-grade specialized optics and in many aspects of materials science and nanoscience. This project will acquire a state-of-the-art electron-beam evaporation system suitable for a diverse set of research projects, most involving undergraduate researchers at a liberal-arts college. The system will be reserved for evaporating only non-magnetic materials in order to produce high-quality superconducting thin films. In addition, it will have several important features that will allow it to meet a diverse set of research needs; these include a cassette with multiple sources, a combination load lock/deposition chamber and an Ar-ion gun for in situ surface cleaning. Research projects that the evaporator will enable include the fabrication of superconducting structures and devices to study their macroscopic quantum properties, the magnetic interactions between superconducting layers mediated by magnetic vortices, and the influence of electron-number parity on persistent currents in superconducting nanorings. The system will also be used for coating optics and resonant cavities, for the creation of "phase dots" used in studies of Bose-Einstein Condensates as well as for electrode deposition and associated surface cleaning for studies of Gd/Y-iron-garnet materials used in experiments to search for the electron electric-dipole moment. The evaporator will have enough automation and flexibility to be operated easily by undergraduate students, who will use the state-of-the-art equipment to perform cutting-edge research. The system will be used by undergraduates from Amherst and Mt. Holyoke Colleges, graduate students from the University of Massachusetts, and postdoctoral researchers and faculty from all three institutions. Non-technical Abstract This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The deposition of high-quality metallic films is indispensable for a variety of research purposes, including producing superconducting devices and custom optics, as well as for many applications in materials science and nanoscience. This project will acquire a state-of-the-art electron-beam evaporation system suitable for a diverse set of research projects, most involving undergraduate researchers at a liberal-arts college. The system will be reserved for evaporating only non-magnetic materials since even small amounts of magnetic impurities can adversely affect superconducting devices. It will also have many specialized features to meet a diverse set of research needs. The new evaporator will be used to fabricate superconducting structures and devices, make specialized optical devices and electromagnetic resonators, and create electrodes for studying magnetic materials. These activities will support work in numerous fundamental and applied research areas, such as quantum computing, ultra-low-temperature physics, materials science, and nanoscience/nanotechnology. The evaporator will have enough automation and flexibility to be operated easily by undergraduate students, who will use the state-of-the-art equipment to perform cutting-edge research. The system will be used by undergraduates from Amherst and Mt. Holyoke Colleges, graduate students from the University of Massachusetts, and postdoctoral researchers and faculty from all three institutions.