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Safematic standard vacuum combined sputter/carbon coater

The Safematic CCU-010 LV is a low vacuum coater designed for SEM sputtering and thin film applications using non-oxidising metals, such as gold and platinum – and for carbon coating of SEM specimens for EDS and WDS.
A unique feature are compact, self-contained sputtering and carbon evaporation head modules which ensure optimum ease of use and servicing. Modules are plug-in style and can be exchanged in seconds.

A stand-out highlight of the carbon evaporation head is a unique (patented) carbon fibre spooling system. This allows up to 50 carbon coatings to be carried out without the need to change the carbon source – a very significant advantage over all other coaters which only have labour intensive single or double shot carbon coating.

The glass vacuum chamber is 120mm in diameter and has a handy vertical graduated scale to help set the height of the specimen stage. With safety in mind the implosion guard has automatic monitoring so the system cannot be operated unless the guard is in place.

The CCU-010 LV requires a rotary vacuum pump (see below) which connects directly into the back of the coater with a vacuum hose.

Please note: for sputtering oxidising metals (Cr, Ir, W, Al etc) and for  SEM and TEM carbon coating applications, the high vacuum CCU-010 HV combined sputter/carbon coater is required.

  • Fully automatic sputtering and carbon coating for SEM
  • Interchangeable, self-contained, plug-in style coating modules
  • High quality sputtering of non-oxidising metals
  • Active cooling of sputtering head module – ensures low temperature operation
  • Up to 50 carbon evaporation coatings before source change
  • Dual-location quartz crystal film thickness measurement – fitted as standard
  • Intuitive, touch-screen control – rapid data input, simple operation
  • Superb build quality and reliability
  • Small footprint (no external rotary pump and pump hose needed)
  • 100mm diameter chamber with simple upgrade to large chamber (150mm/6″ specimens)
  • Superb Swiss quality and reliability

Sputter coating and carbon coating modules SEM and thin film coating

Compact sputter coating modules (SP-010 and SP-011) house all the features required for the highest quality sputter coating – including magnetron, target(see options), shutter, process pressure regulator, power electronics and cooling system. The CCU-010 LV is designed for sputtering and non-oxidising metals (e.g. Au, Au/Pd, Pt etc). For some thin film applications where extended sputtering times are required the SP-010 sputtering module has built-in cooling, which allows continuous coating runs of up to 50 minutes without the inconvenience of time consuming “rest periods” required by some older style coaters. For special processes requiring thicker films the  high sputtering module (SP-011) is recommended.

CT-010 carbon coating module

The Safematic CT-010 carbon coating module is a unique carbon fibre evaporation system – featuring a proprietary (patented) automatic carbon fibre spooling system combined with pulsed evaporation.

The CT-010 automatically advances the carbon thread after each evaporation enabling up to 50 carbon coating runs without the need to change the carbon fibre source – a huge advantage over labour intensive single shot or double shot carbon coaters.

The CT-010 features dual carbon coating modes to suit requirements:

  • Standard carbon coating mode for most routine carbon coating applications
  • Gentle carbon coating for very thin films and/or temperature sensitive specimens

FTM film thickness monitor

A dual-position film thickness monitor (FTM) measurement system monitors and terminates the coating process at a user-defined thickness.

The plug-in monitoring quartz crystal and holder can be moved between the centre of the specimen stage and the outside, to accommodate different specimen sizes and layouts.

Vacuum pumping

CCU-010 LV requires a suitable rotary vacuum pump.  An Edwards RV3 is recommended – please see Ordering Information for details.

If using an existing pump it needs to have a pumping capacity of 50L/min. or greater.

To configure a working CCU-010 HV high vacuum carbon coater you will require the following:

  1. CCU-010 LV base unit inclusive of a standard specimen stage
  2. SP-010 sputtering head module and/or CT-010 carbon head module
  3. Optional alternative specimen stage such as RS-010 or PS-006
  4. Pump, oil mist filter and vacuum hose
  5. Other optional accessories as required
  6. For SP-010 sputtering head module selected preferred  target/targets

Please add your required items using the quote buttons below and we will endeavour to provide your quotation as quickly as possible

Rotation and rotary planetary stages

A choice of easily exchangeable specimen stages, all with height and tilt angle adjustments, is available for the CCU-010 HV.

  1. CCU-010 HV includes a standard plug-in style 80mm diameter specimen stage.
  2. For specimens requiring rotation the optional RS-010 rotation stage is available.
  3. For specimens with very irregular surfaces, or for particulates and spheres, the PS-006 rotary planetary stage is recommended.

Rotary Planetary Stage

3. Rotary Planetary Stage

Standard Stage

1. Standard Stage

Rotary Stage

2. Rotary Stage

 

RS-010 rotary specimen stage
Dimensions (D x H):                              80 x 23mm
Weight:                                                      0.2kg
Number of specimen stub holders:      20
Rotation direction::                                Clockwise
Speed:                                                        6-120 rpm
PS-010  rotary planetary specimen stage
Dimensions (D x H):                                             80 x 23mm
Weight:                                                                    0.2kg
Number of sample stub holders:                        6
Rotation direction of table:                                 Clockwise
Speed (specimen table):                                       0-20rpm
Rotation direction (specimen stub holders):   Anticlockwise
Speed (specimen stub holders):                         0-65rpm

Head Storage Unit

HS-010 vacuum storage system

The HS-010 is a compact vacuum storage system that allows a second CCU-010 coating head, additional stage and sputter coater targets to be stored under vacuum when not in use. There is no requirement for a separate pump as the CCU-010 can be used to pump down the storage unit.

For further information please see: Flyer HS-010 head storage unit

 

GD-010  Glow discharge unit

The GD-010 is a plug-in glow discharge unit specifically designed for use with the CT-010 carbon thread evaporation head module.

It consists of:

  • Height adjustable glow ring with shielding
  • High voltage power supply
  • High voltage plug-in connector
  • Process gas plug-in connector
  • Process pressure regulation valve
  • Process gas connection through CT-010 carbon thread evaporation head module

ET-010 plasma cleaning stage

The ET-010 plasma cleaning specimen stage is designed for the pre-treatment (or post-treatment) of specimens in combination with a coating process. Specimens can be pre-cleaned to remove light hydrocarbon surface contamination prior to sputter coating or carbon coating without the need to break vacuum. The ET-010 can also be used for the hydrophobic to hydrophilic surface conversion of TEM carbon films using an air plasma.

Click here for detailed information: Flyer ET-010 etching unit

Coating Lab software provides easy access to comprehensive coating and process data for audit or quality control processes.

The Windows-based software records key data as real-time curves in a graphical format: vacuum pressure, current, voltage, carbon coating and sputter coating rate, coating thickness and specimen temperature.

The CCU-010 is connected to a PC using a USB cable, with Coating LAB automatically establishing a connection to the coater. Password protected tools for configuring the system and updating the firmware are included.

System requirements HW
Processor:             1GHz
RAM:                     512MB
Memory 32 Bit:   850MB
Memory 64 Bit:   2GB

System requirements SW

Client operating system:   Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 SP1, Windows Vista SP2
Server operating system:   Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012 (64-Bit-Edition), Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2008 SP2

RC-010 is Windows-based software that allows the CCU-010 HV to be remotely controlled and monitored from an external computer, for example when using the coater inside a glovebox. The GUI allows easy set up and selection of sputtering and carbon coating recipes and comes ready with user editable recipes with optimal settings for the most common metal sputtering targets and carbon evaporation. Connection from a laptop or computer to the CCU-010 HV coating system is via a USB cable.

Minimum system requirements:
Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 SP1, minimum 512MB of RAM, screen resolution 1024×768 or higher, USB 2.0 Interface

Brochure download:RC-010_remote control software.

Dimensions

Dimensions (unpacked): L 570 x W 360 x H 350mm. 25kg

Glass cylinder: Ø 120mm (DN 100 ISO-KF compatible)

Specifications

Implosion guard: Plastic splinter shield around the glass cylinder

Sputtering targets:  Ø 54mm and thickness up to 3mm

Coating time: 0.5 to 990s

Coating current: 20mA (10-100mA for optional SP-010 sputtering head module)

Pumping: Integrated, oil-free turbomolecular and membrane pumps

Ultimate vacuum: <2 x 10-6 mbar

Vacuum measurement: Pirani and cold cathode gauges

Display: 115 x 86mm, TFT graphical display

Specimen stage: Ø 80mm, height adjustment 0-50mm, tilt 0-45°

Film thickness measurement: Dual-position film thickness monitoring system. Piezoelectric crystal: frequency 6MHz, Ø 14mm, thickness 0.4mm.

Electrical: Plug C14, 90-260VAC, 47-63 Hz, 500W

Process gas connections: Process gas: Ø 6mm, venting gas: Ø 6mm, plasma gas: Ø 6mm

Electrical: Connector socket C13, secured with 10A therm. circuit breaker

Located in Switzerland’s St. Gallen Rhine Valley – a region long renowned for expertise in vacuum and coating technology – Safematic GmbH manufactures technology-leading, highly innovative vacuum coating systems for electron microscopy and thin film applications. Labtech is delighted to offer Safematic sputter coaters, carbon coaters  and accessories to our customers in the UK and Ireland.

Ordering information:

Base unit and coating module

To configure a working CCU-010 LV system please add the base unit and carbon head module to your quote and then add any other accessories from the list of options below:

CCU-010 LV pumping

Large chamber option – for samples up to 6″ (152mm) in diameter 

The LC-006 is a large chamber option that replaces the standard glass chamber and allows specimens up to 6” (152mm) to be coated.

A sample holder for 6” wafers is included, other holders can be fitted. The LC-006 can be retrofitted to existing CCU-010 coaters.

Specimen stages

Please select additional specimen stages from the options below

Head module storage

For combined coating systems with more than one coating head module a storage unit can be used to store the one not in use under vacuum.

Sputtering targets

Please note that the standard vacuum CCU-010 LV  will sputter non-oxidising (noble) metals, including Au, Au/Pd, Pd, Pt, Pt/Pd, Cu, Ag and Fe. For sputtering oxidising metals, such as Cr, Ir, Al, ITO and W the high vacuum CCU-010 HV is required.