Quartz crystal microbalance-based system for high-sensitivity differential sputter yield measurements

Rubin, Binyamin; Topper, James L.; Farnell, Casey C.; Yalin, Azer P.

doi:10.1063/1.3249560

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…A dc Kaufman ion source using a dual thoriated tungsten filament as a discharge cathode and thoriated tungsten filament as a neutralizer is used [11]. The four-grid ion optics system, designed using an in-house ffx code [26,27] and fabricated in-house, produces collimated beams at the low ion energies of interest to this work (20-350 eV). For higher energy measurements (250-500 eV), a two-grid ion optics system is used.…”

Section: Ion Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ion source characterization was performed to determine the bombardment conditions [26]. The beam divergence angle, defined as the angle from the normal including 90% of the beam current, was found as 12 • from a beam profile measured with a collimated Faraday probe (the divergence angle increases slightly with beam energy), corresponding to a beam diameter of approximately 13.5 cm at the sample plane.…”

Section: Ion Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

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Total and differential sputter yields of boron nitride measured by quartz crystal microbalance

Rubin

Topper

Yalin

2009

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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We present differential sputter yield measurements of boron nitride due to bombardment by xenon ions. A four-grid ion optics system is used to achieve a collimated ion beam at low energy (<100 eV). A quartz crystal microbalance is used to measure differential sputter yield profiles of condensable components from which total sputter yields can also be determined. We report total and differential sputter yields of three grades of boron nitride due to bombardment by xenon ions for ion energies in the range 60–500 eV and ion incidence angles of 0°, 15°, 30° and 45° from the normal. Comparisons with published values are made where possible.

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Section: Ion Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ion Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

Total and differential sputter yields of boron nitride measured by quartz crystal microbalance

Rubin

Topper

Yalin

2009

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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“…Moreover, a temperature calibration and sufficient cooling of the QCM sensor is needed with regard to the significant heating observed. The latter is likely to cause frequency instabilities and influence the sticking coefficient and is most commonly induced by bombarding ions when operating a QCM in a sputtering setup 27 . Therefore, not only the quantitative but also the energetic distribution of sputtered particles would be of interest here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sputtering of Mo and Ag with xenon ions from a radio-frequency ion thruster

Buntrock

Volkmar

Hannemann

2021

Review of Scientific Instruments

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The goal of this work was the setup of an electric propulsion (EP) sputtering test section as a feasibility study for ground-based sputter testing of spacecraft materials with a radio-frequency ion thruster (RIT). Such experiments deliver valuable data which are scarce but highly desired to model EP-based space missions, for example with SPIS (Spacecraft Plasma Interaction System), in order to predict the performance and lifetime of spacecraft components. This study assessed if sufficient testing conditions can be met to produce reliable experimental material data in the future. Therefore, the thruster was operated at ion energies of 1.5 keV and 1.8 keV, and a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was installed to detect sputter deposition rates. Molybdenum (Mo) and silver (Ag) were chosen as sputter targets. Wafer substrates served as a passive sampling method to characterize the composition of sputtered material by Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS). Additionally, sputtering simulations matching the experimental conditions were conducted with the software SDTrimSP. We obtained comparable experimental and computational data, as measured sputter deposition rates lie within the simulated order of magnitude and to some extent show the predicted angular dependence. Analysis of deposited sputter material revealed the formation of metal oxides which requires a future adaption of the material specific QCM settings. Furthermore, the cooling system of the QCM sensor head was not sufficient, limiting the comparability of results.

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“…The simplest approach to measuring channel wall erosion rate is to run the thruster for a set number of hours and measure the channel wall profile via profilometry. 1,2 Other potential channel erosion diagnostics include quartz crystal microbalance 3,4 and emission spectroscopy. 3,5 Weight loss is also regularly used to measure sputter yield.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Cavity Ring-Down Density Measurement on a 6-kW Hall Thruster

Huang¹,

Galimore²,

Smith³

et al. 2011

47th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference &Amp;amp; Exhibit

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We present the initial results from a cavity ring-down sensor for measuring the density of sputtered boron atoms originating from the discharge channel of a 6-kW Hall thruster. The sensor traps 250 nm light in a high-finesse cavity to greatly increase its sensitivity to boron atoms. Measurements were obtained with the thruster operating at seven conditions spanning discharge voltages from 150 to 600 V, and anode mass flow rates from 10 to 30 mg/s. Power level at these operating conditions ranged from 1.5 to 10 kW. Boron density was found to vary from <1×10 14 to ~1×10 15 m-3 with the higher density measurements being found near the two channel walls. We apply a simple two-dimensional velocity model to obtain boron flux. The boron flux is then correlated to the boron nitride sputter rate, which is found to vary from 4×10-4 to 6×10-3 mm 3 /s. A simple power law equation is formulated to correlate the relative sputter rate for the 6-kW Hall thruster as a function of the tested operating conditions. Although the uncertainty in this initial result is high, the result clearly demonstrates previously untapped potential for the use of cavity ring-down spectroscopy to study the problem of Hall thruster channel wall erosion.

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Quartz crystal microbalance-based system for high-sensitivity differential sputter yield measurements

Cited by 11 publications

References 39 publications

Total and differential sputter yields of boron nitride measured by quartz crystal microbalance

Total and differential sputter yields of boron nitride measured by quartz crystal microbalance

Sputtering of Mo and Ag with xenon ions from a radio-frequency ion thruster

Initial Cavity Ring-Down Density Measurement on a 6-kW Hall Thruster

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