I noticed the precautionary warning is followed by the transformer and rectifier sitting on the workbench fully exposed with sketchy alligator clip leads strewn all over the place. That isn't the correct way to deal with High Voltage at all. Definitely going to be hurting the entire time you are dying.
Adding a high voltage smoothing capacitor to your high voltage full bridge rectifier across the DC side should improve your results. The ripple in the DC will likely give inconsistent film thicknesses across the surface of the sample.
Might be good to add a series inductor (ballast) after the rectifier and capacitor to smooth the current flow. The high voltage winding of a transformer will do.
I used magnetron sputtering (had to fix one that was almost "gone") on my PhD-work and also made high vacuum arc melter, and based on my experience I would recommend using 3-side supported (squeezed) O-rings instead of 2-side-squeezed flat gaskets whenever possible (since you have the lathe). Also a book worth it's weight in gold about cheapo-high-grade-lab-research instrument building, I would recommend is the John H. Moore et all Building Scientific Apparatus (4th ed). It has really nice tricks to get high vacuum cheaply (that I did not need/get to use due to external funding). Looking forward to new episodes.
I have a little bit of experience with some of this so if you don’t mind some comments from the peanut gallery: -When I’ve done sputtering, usually there would be a pre-sputtering step where a shutter has a small amount of material deposited on it to clean the target surface -The gaskets would commonly use stuff like (oxygen free) copper O-Rings for high vacuum systems to prevent any outgassing. It would be a one time use though because the connection would “bite into” the copper to produce the seal -Swage connections might be worth looking into -High Vacuum lithium grease was also used -If your sputter material is “machineable” it might have metals that can outgas like lead or zinc. (Strangely lead-tin solders are used for vacuum applications so keep that in mind?) If the iron is machineable, it might have sulfur inside of it which can outgas -It might be cheaper to use metal foil for your metal sources -Acrylic can outgas in ultra-high vacuum. It’s used for vacuum systems, but those are usually “low-vacuum” systems (where the pressure is higher, confusing I know) where it’s good enough. Maybe something like a GPU cooler could work? -Instead of a diffusion pump (since you don’t want to use thatbfor this project) you might can look into using a cryopump instead since I think I remember you using liquid nitrogen before -Borosilicate glass can be used for sealing metal connections for vacuum too -The UV light from the plasma might be damaging to the epoxy so that might be something to keep in mind in the future -Despite the iron atoms having a high effective temperature as they are sputtering, they are still magnetic, so you might want to adjust your setup for those (see attached: www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_best_way_to_do_sputtering_of_magnetic_materials/amp ) The link has people discussing putting magnets *BESIDE* your sputter target so that might be worth looking into -If you have a UV-Ozone cleaner, it can do *WONDERS* when preparing a substrate for film deposition -For making diamond, one thing you might can try is to use graphite foil as the sputter source and a silicon wafer as a substrate. Hopefully the oxide layer doesn’t interfere too much and if I recall, Diamond grows on silicon but at a 45° angle (its been a while so don’t hold that too much against me) Disclaimer: some of this stuff is kinda fuzzy since it’s been a while so take it with a grain of salt. This is stuff you probably already know and I know you were only doing a prototype and couldn’t get around to all of this, but hopefully something that I typed can prove helpful 😁
There is a problem with cryopumps: they can't take much argon. Other than that, one can be used to suck water, oxygen, nitrogen and CO2 out, deeper than any "roughing" mechanical pump ever can. I've seen corrugated stainless steel pipes in a hardware store here. I think, they can perform much better than vinyl hoses, but they are quite inconveniently rigid.
I enjoy using Hysol 1C epoxy for my vacuum epoxy because I believe it's identical to TorrSeal. (McMaster) I also prefer to use hand bendable aluminum tube and Swagelok fittings/needle_valves. I can leave my system at vacuum for weeks. Instrutech gauges are a good choice, but be aware the hot-wire gauges will require correction but the diaphragm ones don't. A good bell jar is like $60 on amazon. If you are going to do borosilicate sealing to metal you'll have to get good at flameworking, flame annealing, and/or use Tungsten to match the expansion coefficient.
Concerning the sputtering of Fe, when ever I do sputtering of material conatining Fe or Ni, the target (material to be sputtered) thickness plays a large role. With a "proper" machine and a high magnetic field gun our Fe target can not be much thicker than 3mm otherwise our coating will look similar to yours. You might want to try to use a steel foil, as mentioned by someone else.
Tagging on here, -I'd recommend a shutter as well if you can make that work. With that you can protect your sample, use the Ar to pre-sputter removing the native oxides on your target material and then open the shutter for the deposition. -Seconding the cryopump, I'd add a roots blower as well. Most PVD systems I've seen have had a cryo on them. The roots blower helps handle the process gas you need for sputtering. A diffusion pump could also work and handle the load, but you start to have backstreaming concerns with the oil though if you do not follow the proper pumping procedure. (Diffpumps at this point are the poor mans vacuum pump in industry due to the backstreaming issues) A turbomolecular pump isn't as good in PVD systems, they're usually used in dry(plasma) etchers. -A minimum base pressure for what you're looking for here would be in the 1e-6->1e-8 torr range for good quality films. -Corning vacuum grease is also good, you can find it on amazon. generally for lubing o-rings/gaskets - For forming oxides, you're going to want to flow O2 into the system not just sputter them. If you only sputter the oxides they don't form precisely what you're thinking they do as the oxygen leaves through the pump sometimes. You can do similar films by also flowing N2 for nitrides. You'll want to balance the O2/N2 flows with Ar, let the Ar do the sputter, and the O2/N2 be part of the film formation. Basically Ar, O2 and N2 are all you should have/make sense to have hooked up to a sputtering/PVD system, if anything else is being used to sputter you don't know what film you're getting. It gets expensive, but the higher purity the gas you use the better quality film you get. Welding argon is really not great and has some oil in it, but that could just be what you can get, just kind of a fyi on that. -You could also have a go at machining a chamber, one of the main concerns you have with the glass is it breaking under high-vac. Applied Science has a bell-jar that was made explicitly for this sort thing, it isn't a coincidence. You can have viewports in the chamber, and use thicker glass that wont break. I've got my concerns about the mason jar you're using when going to a high-vac setup. -Any exposed parts of the setup should be wiped down with isopropyl alcohol prior to pumpdown. If you are doing a seal similar to how you are now with the chamber, either using the corning grease or wiping it down with iso is preferred. -Diamond like carbon is going to be a pain. I'd probably do more of a thermal PVD setup where you heat up a graphite rod as opposed to sputtering. whether or not that is DLC is its own issue. PECVD is commonly used for DLC using a high grade acetylene if I remember correctly. -My personal go-to book recommendations for thin films processing: (I have these at my desk at work) (also there are ways to find PDFs of these) --Materials Science of thin films by Milton Ohring --Thin Films Processes II by Vossen & Kern --A user's guide to Vacuum Technology by O'Hanlon. I hope that's helpful to you or someone else!
Sputtered aluminum makes very good mirrors. When I made them though, I just used a tungsten coil with a wad of aluminum foil shoved into the center (the W coil was pretty heavy-duty!). The W coil was connected to a pair of feed-throughs to a low voltage, high current supply (~2-3v at 20+A). I used glass slides and just laid them on the bottom of the chamber. I pumped the chamber down (had an Edwards pump, too!) and when it got down as low as it could, I turned on the power supply. The W coil glows really brightly and vaporizes the Al foil and voila, very shiny aluminized glass mirrors! An overcoat of SiO would have been helpful as the coatings are super fragile (as you know), but I didn't have any. Anyway- nice job with the plasma approach!
Your method was evaporation, also known as PVD. A very popular and much easier method to set up, aside from high current feedthroughs. The coatings shouldn't be fragile, that is likely because your glass was contaminated.
@@Spirit532 Well, the coatings were pretty darn thin. But yeah, cleaning them with acetone may have left some residue. Most coated optics are overcoated with SiO to make them more damage resistant, though.
I once had the pleasure of using a professional "Sputterer" they had at the local Uni for a school project where i needed to coat some mold fungi in gold in order to observe it under their SEM! It was a great project!!
@@theRhinsRanger The electron-beam in a SEM would burn the fungi the moment it touches it. We speaking of energy around 20.000 Volt. The Gold coating encapsules the fungi and preserve its fine surface. The Mikrometer/Nanometer World is very interesting to observe ;)
@@-Tris- I posted that around the moment the video appeared in my feed and before watching it obviously hence the "yet", I watched it right after and it was as good as expected and I learned a lot, gotta love thought emporium.
After watching your earlier video and Applied Science, I decided I needed to do this too. I needed a way of making beamsplitters reliably and with repeatable results. In the end I bought a used desktop sputter coater and had to do some restoration/repair work but now it works like a dream. Our machine doesn't need any water cooling. The next thing I want to do is make anti-reflection coatings. In order to sputter dielectric materials, ideally you need RF power instead of DC and the secondary vacuum pump is also needed. Aluminum falls into this category too. It doesn't sputter well with DC because it quickly develops an oxide layer which is of course insulating. We have enough gear to make a larger RF powered unit in the future. With DC we've sputtered silver, gold and nickel and applying a precise, high quality, semi-reflective layer onto a glass prism has become a quick, routine process that we can now do anytime. Keep going - great fun!
I recently had the opportunity to work with a sputterer in a lab during an internship, and you video has really helped me understand and appreciate the device much more! Thanks for the quality content!
I'm a 63 YO technologist from the Semiconductor industry. I've spent 3 decades working with Metals Sputtering and Ion Implantation systems. Hints: #1 Instead of using Silicone, use Viton elastomer vacuum seals. #2 Don't use dielectric materials (such as glass) for your vacuum chamber walls because interior conductive coatings, even very thin, will charge up and discharge periodically and this will create multiple types of instability in your plasma. Don't forget, the vacuum chamber wall is part of the electronic circuit of the Magnetron. #3 For high quality films you need high vacuum that can be produced with a turbo-molecular vacuum pump that's backed up by a rotary rough vacuum pump. Even if you can't afford a turbo pump, use a dry mechanical vacuum pump to eliminate the source of hydrocarbon oil in your process. #4 Don't use a reactive gas or mixture such as air for the ion discharge. High purity Ar gas is the best for several reasons. It's non-reactive with your substrates and target metals and, Ar ions are large (AMU 40) and will thus bombard the target with more force to achieve a higher deposition rate. #5 Operate the Ar gas at 9 MilliTorr Sputtering pressure for the best results. #6 For best adhesion, clean the glass substrates with a solution of HCL (hydrochloric acid) then rinse with DI water, Acetone then isopropyl alcohol. dry well with heated air. Maintain the substrates at a cold or cool temperature while metal coating. Make sure that the substrates are electrically grounded to the chamber wall as this will attract the metal clusters to the desired surface. Use lower power for more time for less Target heating and better adhesion and step coverage of topography. I continue to work with electron microscopes and microfocus x-ray systems in my small business.
This "garden-shed" science is wonderfully inspiring. Watching clever people make amazing machines out of household junk is very engaging. I envy your creative talents.
HiVac tech here. One minor mistake :) Your diff pump would go between the chamber and the E2M80 (rough pump). The diff pump would pull you under 5mt, but they need to be backed by a rough. or a booster/rough combo (roots blower, sitting on top of your E2M80) Great vid though. I work on tools that do this for a living. I think its awesome that you got this going at home for almost nothing
Wonderful video. I made a half-working magnetron from your old video from years ago. Maybe this one will help me make a fully-working one! Really appreciated. Great work.
Many compliments! Go RF and make some dielectric coatings! As you said in the video the satisfaction to get your first metal coating with DC magnetron is really big! Sputtering dielectrics is complicated but much more useful!
Just when I was thinking that I need to go through my subscription list and do some house cleaning because my daily list of videos is almost unmanageable-DAMN YOU! Subscribed.
I worked at an electronics manufacturer for over 10 years running the SMT equipment, which is the equipment that places the sometimes thousands of tiny resistors, capacitors, diodes, I.C.'s, flatpacks, etc. I probably ran a million PCB's through my machines in that time. It never occurred to me that PCB's went through this process to get their traces and such...I remember thinking they were a laminate or pressed. I am amazed! Thank you for this! I LOVE learning new things and try to daily
I picked up a set based on your suggestion and yup, they're great. Bit tricky to get the hole started without marring up the glass, but makes a nice clean hole. Already used them to make a new upgraded chamber for the system. thanks!
@@danfoster326 which is exactly what I ended up doing. First vacuum test won't be for a week or so, so won't know how well things are holding up until then, but so far seems promising
NICEE, ive worked with a sputtering machine in my ceramic internship. They where used to cover the ceramics in a gold layer, so they could used in the electron microscope
Probably still works. He said in an update video that that it was and there were nothing really to report. I expect an update video, if it ever stops working. .. Actually, what I expect, is to see gene therapy available in a few -decades, because trials- years and lactose intolerance a thing of the past.
Great job man. Once again you’ve delivered quality science with practical costs. Other channels make science seem like a rich mans game, but you always show your subscribers a working mans experiment. Its better to put in the elbow grease than to shell out bucks. (Especially if you’ve already shelled out for great tools). Thank you.
I remember dancing around after synthesizing a long sought after compound, 15 yrs ago. Its an amazing feeling even repeating some of theses things, can you imagine discovering them from scratch.
DLC synthesis is, in fact hard and complicated. I am a co-author of a paper on flame synthesis of diamond like carbon from a college internship. My tips, vary both temperature and flow. The rate of deposition has a significant impact on the formation rate of carbon, allowing it to form large crystals or long fractal formations. The temperature, obviously, changes what reaction path the carbon takes. What isn't so obvious, however, is how many reactions can occur. Buckyballs, nanotubes, ordered lattices, amorphous DLC, actual diamond nanoparticles, hexagonal diamond lattices (lonsdaleite), carbon chains, etc. Check the properties often. Sometimes a small change can result in a sudden shift between the preferred path. We found that DLC formed best (using flame synthesis with rapeseed oil as fuel) at low temperatures and extremely low oxygen levels, with the flow rate close to the minimum required to sustain the flame.
@@thethoughtemporium "Kinetically driven graphite-like to diamond-like carbon transformation in low temperature laminar diffusion flames" Published to ScienceDirect in May 2017 I hope I spelled all that correctly, sheesh. Talk about word salad. :D
Watched few of your videos. You are really somebody. I think there are not many people with this knowledge. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Regards.
It's great to see how easy this can be, I was fascinated when I saw Ben Krasnow's video a few years ago but his set up is far less achievable for the average home shop.
Oh this video made me happy on so many different levels. First I was thinking how nice it was that you made an applied science project feel so much more accessible. Then when I saw your diode square in my head I was thinking is that a??? Then you start to mention it and in my head I'm thinking oh no he's gonna do it.... he's gonna say it... then I hear you gloriously say "FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER" and I laughed out loud for an embarrassingly long amount of time. Keep up the good work.
Ahh! I'm obsessed with thin film interference!! I collect iridescent stuff so mentioning making dichoroic mirrors plus mentioning making opal in the icing robot video has me sooooo excited 😍😍
you may already know this, but try and buy a deposition controller, they are not expensive, I think Ben K used one and if you are patient, some turn up on eBay that have many useful functions. this can help you get repeatable coatings. you're a man after my own heart, keep up the good work.
Some tips. Put a high wattage ballast wound resistor on the output of the transformer (100 ohms or less, some trial and error is required), this will stabilize the plasma. Shield all the organics inside the vacuum, to minimize heating and thus outgassing. Dave
Very nice! I saw the video and thought it was another post from Ben, but was extremely satisfied to see if was your channel! The more people making videos like these, the better.
It’s unbelievable how much I enjoy your Content and Channel! You got such interesting Videos! Thank you for all that! Keep the great work coming! Greeting from Germany! ✌🏻
If your battery charger for your car or golf cart doesn't work, it's probably the FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER. It's a small square, usually. Imagine the fbr in this video encased in black plastic. Do a Google search of whatever id numbers are on it to buy a new one. Transformers rarely go bad. In the "old days", one might just dump a bunch of varnish over a shorted out one and try it again after it dries. They vibrate during use and the varnish on the windings can rub thru. If you have one that buzzes loudly, you can jam an insulator in there to quiet it down and prevent damage.
A small bit of advice from someone who spent the last 10 years working with vacuum systems for a solar energy company. Silicone is pretty much the worst material for gaskets in vacuum systems. It isn't obvious unless you look at the materials data but silicone has extremely high "permeability " (the measure of how much gas can permeate through a material). For an inexpensive alternative you can use butyl rubber, though it has a fairly limited maximum use temperature. The better choice is viton, which has nearly the lowest permeability of all rubber like materials, and also has a high maximum use temperature. There are some super high performance gasket materials, like Chemraz, Calrez, etc, but these can be wildly expensive. A single rubber o-ring or gasket can leak and outgass more than the entire rest of your vacuum system. It can also save lots of time reaching a decent vacuum to bake everything that is going to be evacuated in an oven. Use the highest temperature that your materials can safely withstand, and bake under vacuum if possible. The biggest culprit for getting a good vacuum, assuming no leaks or high permeability rubber seals, is water molecules adhering to the glass, metal, etc, in the vacuum system. Even at the relatively weak vacuums used in air conditioning systems (prior to charging with refrigerant) of about 100 micron or millitorr, water molecules being released from the inside of the copper tube can stop the vacuum from decreasing, below a few hundred micron, for several days.
Another quick lathe tip, when threading you can stick a rigid piece of metal in your tool holder and turn the lathe on with the lowest RPM, the die holder will then slide along the metal piece while it threads the part. Just make sure to use plenty of oil and stop the machine in time lol.
Pro tip for the vacuum pump: If you are trying to reach vacuums below 10mTorr make sure your oil is very clean. If you have volatiles in your oil they will be boiling within the vane journals and set that as your max vacuum. Your vacuum pump does have a gas ballast valve. Opening that and running for a while will help remove the volatiles from your oil. You will want this to stay closed though when going for deep vacuums. Something you should also pick up is some Dow Corning High Vacuum Grease. It is made of PFPE oil and has a very low vapor pressure, so it will not off-gas into your process.
Dang dude, you’re so cool! Thanks for sharing your awesome talents and skills that you’ve honed for years. It’s wonderful to have access to so much knowledge!
Years ago, I worked at the University of Minnesota with Phil Johnson in lecture demo. One time he showed me a handheld interferometer and with one hand adjusted the length of one arm until he got it just right. If you held it up close to your eyes, you could actually see the air currents! There was only the overhead lights for this demo. No lasers or anything. I really want to use something like this for a lead-in to a LIGO interferometer documentary.
@@thethoughtemporium It looked a small drop forged a metal base with two front surface mirrors about 1.5" or 2" square, one fixed and one adjustable with a fine pitch screw and a beamsplitter of similar size. It was stupidly simple arrangement. But if you held the unit between your eyes and your outstretched hand, you could see the heat waves coming off your hand.!! And because you are using white light, the coherence length is almost zero, that is the optical distance one leg has to be almost exactly the same as the other leg to get this effect. With a monochromatic light like a laser beam, you have an almost infinite coherence length as you can adjust the leg length willy nilly and always get fringes. I'm not sure about the optical quality of the mirrors but I would guess they were quarter wave. But I don't think that is required to get the effect. But it would be fun to imagine how it would work if the mirrors were perfectly flat.
Great video. Some ideas: 1) Cool your magnets with a peltier cooler, no water cooling. 2) Look at other materials for the cradle, IE: Niobium, Nichrome. 3) Could you polarize the two pieces ? To be coated +, sacrificial piece - ? Work temps inside the chamber would be great data for alternative construction materials. Subbed and keep up the great work.
Thank you for the video. I have been curious about this process for quite some time. There is one othe process that comes to mind which uses a vacuum chamber with a nichrome wire element on which you suspend a small piece of the type of metal you wish to use in your coating process. Once a vaccum is achieved current is fed through the nichrome element until the metal sample melts and wets the nichrome wire. After the sample is melted the current is increased allot which vaporizes the metal. The vapour rises and condenses onto the glass slide which is held above the nichrome element. This process is used to coat telescope mirrors as well as plastics for headlight reflectors in cars.
"...and will hurt the entire time you're dying." Y'know, there's a lot of channels out there that casually toss around microwave transformers as an easy-pants way to drum up high voltage for no end of things. When you know how to use something safely (or sometimes just think you do), things stop being scary. It's good to toss in a little "this will kill you" sometimes, to hopefully keep people from licking giant capacitors and doing other dumb stuff.
haha, shoutout to electroboom. This is new to me and answered many questions I didnt know I had.
Also a shoutout to AvE vefore that
@@tp6335 indeed!
Hey you just missed to get echo effect on 'FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER'.........
I was too distracted laughing at "It will hurt the entire time you're dying"
@Josh Why? that's something electroboom would do. In fact, i think he did IIRC, probably while experimenting with his tesla coil.
@@suchiman123 electrobooms signature move is "touching" deadly electrical stuff, so we don't want TE emulating that part lmao
I noticed the precautionary warning is followed by the transformer and rectifier sitting on the workbench fully exposed with sketchy alligator clip leads strewn all over the place. That isn't the correct way to deal with High Voltage at all. Definitely going to be hurting the entire time you are dying.
@@tissuepaper9962 Make the signature move "touching" deadly plasma stuff 😅
13:08 "It will hurt the entire time you're dying if you touch it while it is running.", priceless.
It made my day!
when it will kill you is not enough of a threat, lol
All safety warnings should be written like that ;)
@@soundspark 3D printers are cheaper than just buying some polycarbonate sheets? Amazing.
Adding a high voltage smoothing capacitor to your high voltage full bridge rectifier across the DC side should improve your results. The ripple in the DC will likely give inconsistent film thicknesses across the surface of the sample.
I knew he was missing some thing in his rectifier but it didnt hit me till now i have been working with like only ac lately
Do they also call that part a condensator?
@@MegaLietuvislt Yes, that used to be the name for it (and still is in many languages), but in English you say capacitor nowadays.
@@MegaLietuvislt Condensers are normally called capacitors now. Both names describe what they do, which is to hold an electric charge.
Might be good to add a series inductor (ballast) after the rectifier and capacitor to smooth the current flow. The high voltage winding of a transformer will do.
I used magnetron sputtering (had to fix one that was almost "gone") on my PhD-work and also made high vacuum arc melter, and based on my experience I would recommend using 3-side supported (squeezed) O-rings instead of 2-side-squeezed flat gaskets whenever possible (since you have the lathe). Also a book worth it's weight in gold about cheapo-high-grade-lab-research instrument building, I would recommend is the John H. Moore et all Building Scientific Apparatus (4th ed). It has really nice tricks to get high vacuum cheaply (that I did not need/get to use due to external funding). Looking forward to new episodes.
Bought a copy of Building Scientific Apparatus. Excited to give it a read.
Excellent book recommendation. Thanks!
Your input is appreciated, thank you.
I have a little bit of experience with some of this so if you don’t mind some comments from the peanut gallery:
-When I’ve done sputtering, usually there would be a pre-sputtering step where a shutter has a small amount of material deposited on it to clean the target surface
-The gaskets would commonly use stuff like (oxygen free) copper O-Rings for high vacuum systems to prevent any outgassing. It would be a one time use though because the connection would “bite into” the copper to produce the seal
-Swage connections might be worth looking into
-High Vacuum lithium grease was also used
-If your sputter material is “machineable” it might have metals that can outgas like lead or zinc. (Strangely lead-tin solders are used for vacuum applications so keep that in mind?) If the iron is machineable, it might have sulfur inside of it which can outgas
-It might be cheaper to use metal foil for your metal sources
-Acrylic can outgas in ultra-high vacuum. It’s used for vacuum systems, but those are usually “low-vacuum” systems (where the pressure is higher, confusing I know) where it’s good enough. Maybe something like a GPU cooler could work?
-Instead of a diffusion pump (since you don’t want to use thatbfor this project) you might can look into using a cryopump instead since I think I remember you using liquid nitrogen before
-Borosilicate glass can be used for sealing metal connections for vacuum too
-The UV light from the plasma might be damaging to the epoxy so that might be something to keep in mind in the future
-Despite the iron atoms having a high effective temperature as they are sputtering, they are still magnetic, so you might want to adjust your setup for those (see attached: www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_best_way_to_do_sputtering_of_magnetic_materials/amp ) The link has people discussing putting magnets *BESIDE* your sputter target so that might be worth looking into
-If you have a UV-Ozone cleaner, it can do *WONDERS* when preparing a substrate for film deposition
-For making diamond, one thing you might can try is to use graphite foil as the sputter source and a silicon wafer as a substrate. Hopefully the oxide layer doesn’t interfere too much and if I recall, Diamond grows on silicon but at a 45° angle (its been a while so don’t hold that too much against me)
Disclaimer: some of this stuff is kinda fuzzy since it’s been a while so take it with a grain of salt. This is stuff you probably already know and I know you were only doing a prototype and couldn’t get around to all of this, but hopefully something that I typed can prove helpful 😁
There is a problem with cryopumps: they can't take much argon. Other than that, one can be used to suck water, oxygen, nitrogen and CO2 out, deeper than any "roughing" mechanical pump ever can.
I've seen corrugated stainless steel pipes in a hardware store here. I think, they can perform much better than vinyl hoses, but they are quite inconveniently rigid.
I enjoy using Hysol 1C epoxy for my vacuum epoxy because I believe it's identical to TorrSeal. (McMaster)
I also prefer to use hand bendable aluminum tube and Swagelok fittings/needle_valves. I can leave my system at vacuum for weeks.
Instrutech gauges are a good choice, but be aware the hot-wire gauges will require correction but the diaphragm ones don't.
A good bell jar is like $60 on amazon.
If you are going to do borosilicate sealing to metal you'll have to get good at flameworking, flame annealing, and/or use Tungsten to match the expansion coefficient.
Concerning the sputtering of Fe, when ever I do sputtering of material conatining Fe or Ni, the target (material to be sputtered) thickness plays a large role. With a "proper" machine and a high magnetic field gun our Fe target can not be much thicker than 3mm otherwise our coating will look similar to yours. You might want to try to use a steel foil, as mentioned by someone else.
Codys lab Gravity vacuum vid, would that type of vacuum work?
Tagging on here,
-I'd recommend a shutter as well if you can make that work. With that you can protect your sample, use the Ar to pre-sputter removing the native oxides on your target material and then open the shutter for the deposition.
-Seconding the cryopump, I'd add a roots blower as well. Most PVD systems I've seen have had a cryo on them. The roots blower helps handle the process gas you need for sputtering. A diffusion pump could also work and handle the load, but you start to have backstreaming concerns with the oil though if you do not follow the proper pumping procedure. (Diffpumps at this point are the poor mans vacuum pump in industry due to the backstreaming issues) A turbomolecular pump isn't as good in PVD systems, they're usually used in dry(plasma) etchers.
-A minimum base pressure for what you're looking for here would be in the 1e-6->1e-8 torr range for good quality films.
-Corning vacuum grease is also good, you can find it on amazon. generally for lubing o-rings/gaskets
- For forming oxides, you're going to want to flow O2 into the system not just sputter them. If you only sputter the oxides they don't form precisely what you're thinking they do as the oxygen leaves through the pump sometimes. You can do similar films by also flowing N2 for nitrides. You'll want to balance the O2/N2 flows with Ar, let the Ar do the sputter, and the O2/N2 be part of the film formation. Basically Ar, O2 and N2 are all you should have/make sense to have hooked up to a sputtering/PVD system, if anything else is being used to sputter you don't know what film you're getting. It gets expensive, but the higher purity the gas you use the better quality film you get. Welding argon is really not great and has some oil in it, but that could just be what you can get, just kind of a fyi on that.
-You could also have a go at machining a chamber, one of the main concerns you have with the glass is it breaking under high-vac. Applied Science has a bell-jar that was made explicitly for this sort thing, it isn't a coincidence. You can have viewports in the chamber, and use thicker glass that wont break. I've got my concerns about the mason jar you're using when going to a high-vac setup.
-Any exposed parts of the setup should be wiped down with isopropyl alcohol prior to pumpdown. If you are doing a seal similar to how you are now with the chamber, either using the corning grease or wiping it down with iso is preferred.
-Diamond like carbon is going to be a pain. I'd probably do more of a thermal PVD setup where you heat up a graphite rod as opposed to sputtering. whether or not that is DLC is its own issue. PECVD is commonly used for DLC using a high grade acetylene if I remember correctly.
-My personal go-to book recommendations for thin films processing: (I have these at my desk at work) (also there are ways to find PDFs of these)
--Materials Science of thin films by Milton Ohring
--Thin Films Processes II by Vossen & Kern
--A user's guide to Vacuum Technology by O'Hanlon.
I hope that's helpful to you or someone else!
*FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER*
I accidentally touch a power outlet in front of me.
Did you rectify that situation?
Then you created a full-bridge rectum-fryer instead ;-)
Tell us, is it true that the life of Bon Scott flashes before your eyes when you die like that?
You learned that power is not imaginary and that it was unfortunate that the sqrt of -1 was dubbed "imaginary".
@@lordchickenhawk Who's Bon?
Sputtered aluminum makes very good mirrors. When I made them though, I just used a tungsten coil with a wad of aluminum foil shoved into the center (the W coil was pretty heavy-duty!). The W coil was connected to a pair of feed-throughs to a low voltage, high current supply (~2-3v at 20+A). I used glass slides and just laid them on the bottom of the chamber. I pumped the chamber down (had an Edwards pump, too!) and when it got down as low as it could, I turned on the power supply. The W coil glows really brightly and vaporizes the Al foil and voila, very shiny aluminized glass mirrors! An overcoat of SiO would have been helpful as the coatings are super fragile (as you know), but I didn't have any. Anyway- nice job with the plasma approach!
Your method was evaporation, also known as PVD. A very popular and much easier method to set up, aside from high current feedthroughs.
The coatings shouldn't be fragile, that is likely because your glass was contaminated.
@@Spirit532 Well, the coatings were pretty darn thin. But yeah, cleaning them with acetone may have left some residue. Most coated optics are overcoated with SiO to make them more damage resistant, though.
@@LiLi-or2gm the acetone is just OK for a first pass cleaning, there's better ways to get 'em really clean before coating.
Aww, I'm too early to see Electroboom react in the comments.
Same here
*1 year ago*
Same
I once had the pleasure of using a professional "Sputterer" they had at the local Uni for a school project where i needed to coat some mold fungi in gold in order to observe it under their SEM! It was a great project!!
Could you not observe their gold mould semi with just your eyes?
@@theRhinsRanger The electron-beam in a SEM would burn the fungi the moment it touches it. We speaking of energy around 20.000 Volt. The Gold coating encapsules the fungi and preserve its fine surface. The Mikrometer/Nanometer World is very interesting to observe ;)
"will hurt the entire time you're dying if you touch it..."
lmao
Nice nod to AvE.
Scrolled to find this XD
Yeah... It still won't hurt for long. MOT's are VERY deadly if you drop your guard.
@@SwervingLemon gotta pump up the electricity resists, or have a priest nearby for revive
As a former Support Tech for a scientific vacuum equipment manufacture, I love seeing homebrew videos like this. Great work.
Are you ever not doing something cool? That title just sounds amazing and I don't even know what Magnetron Sputtering is yet!
I have to agree
You should watch the video then you know what it is and how it works.
@@-Tris- I posted that around the moment the video appeared in my feed and before watching it obviously hence the "yet", I watched it right after and it was as good as expected and I learned a lot, gotta love thought emporium.
@@TheOnlyDamien haha ok, i was just wondering how someone couldn´t understand this great video. Perfect and detailed explanation as always.
I wonder if this would work with a cathode Ray tube?
After watching your earlier video and Applied Science, I decided I needed to do this too. I needed a way of making beamsplitters reliably and with repeatable results. In the end I bought a used desktop sputter coater and had to do some restoration/repair work but now it works like a dream. Our machine doesn't need any water cooling. The next thing I want to do is make anti-reflection coatings. In order to sputter dielectric materials, ideally you need RF power instead of DC and the secondary vacuum pump is also needed. Aluminum falls into this category too. It doesn't sputter well with DC because it quickly develops an oxide layer which is of course insulating. We have enough gear to make a larger RF powered unit in the future. With DC we've sputtered silver, gold and nickel and applying a precise, high quality, semi-reflective layer onto a glass prism has become a quick, routine process that we can now do anytime. Keep going - great fun!
I recently had the opportunity to work with a sputterer in a lab during an internship, and you video has really helped me understand and appreciate the device much more!
Thanks for the quality content!
I'm a 63 YO technologist from the Semiconductor industry. I've spent 3 decades working with Metals Sputtering and Ion Implantation systems. Hints: #1 Instead of using Silicone, use Viton elastomer vacuum seals. #2 Don't use dielectric materials (such as glass) for your vacuum chamber walls because interior conductive coatings, even very thin, will charge up and discharge periodically and this will create multiple types of instability in your plasma. Don't forget, the vacuum chamber wall is part of the electronic circuit of the Magnetron. #3 For high quality films you need high vacuum that can be produced with a turbo-molecular vacuum pump that's backed up by a rotary rough vacuum pump. Even if you can't afford a turbo pump, use a dry mechanical vacuum pump to eliminate the source of hydrocarbon oil in your process. #4 Don't use a reactive gas or mixture such as air for the ion discharge. High purity Ar gas is the best for several reasons. It's non-reactive with your substrates and target metals and, Ar ions are large (AMU 40) and will thus bombard the target with more force to achieve a higher deposition rate. #5 Operate the Ar gas at 9 MilliTorr Sputtering pressure for the best results. #6 For best adhesion, clean the glass substrates with a solution of HCL (hydrochloric acid) then rinse with DI water, Acetone then isopropyl alcohol. dry well with heated air. Maintain the substrates at a cold or cool temperature while metal coating. Make sure that the substrates are electrically grounded to the chamber wall as this will attract the metal clusters to the desired surface. Use lower power for more time for less Target heating and better adhesion and step coverage of topography.
I continue to work with electron microscopes and microfocus x-ray systems in my small business.
that Electroboom reference was really nice. no need to sorry
This "garden-shed" science is wonderfully inspiring. Watching clever people make amazing machines out of household junk is very engaging. I envy your creative talents.
For normies you're some kind of magican, keep it up!
he's a magician even to us nerdy folks
@@soundtrancecloud5101 no
10/10 most underrated youtube channel in existence.
The last time I was this early, you still had Lactose Intolerance. Awesome video as always!
HiVac tech here. One minor mistake :) Your diff pump would go between the chamber and the E2M80 (rough pump). The diff pump would pull you under 5mt, but they need to be backed by a rough. or a booster/rough combo (roots blower, sitting on top of your E2M80) Great vid though. I work on tools that do this for a living. I think its awesome that you got this going at home for almost nothing
Wonderful video. I made a half-working magnetron from your old video from years ago. Maybe this one will help me make a fully-working one! Really appreciated. Great work.
Does it work?
Thank you for giving me something to do during summer break, two years in a row.
Many compliments! Go RF and make some dielectric coatings! As you said in the video the satisfaction to get your first metal coating with DC magnetron is really big! Sputtering dielectrics is complicated but much more useful!
Just when I was thinking that I need to go through my subscription list and do some house cleaning because my daily list of videos is almost unmanageable-DAMN YOU! Subscribed.
I worked at an electronics manufacturer for over 10 years running the SMT equipment, which is the equipment that places the sometimes thousands of tiny resistors, capacitors, diodes, I.C.'s, flatpacks, etc. I probably ran a million PCB's through my machines in that time. It never occurred to me that PCB's went through this process to get their traces and such...I remember thinking they were a laminate or pressed. I am amazed! Thank you for this! I LOVE learning new things and try to daily
I knew we had that "Full bridge rectifier!" coming the moment i saw it in the background.
Still missed to turn down my speakers though ...😅
I love this. I’ve come back to watch this video multiple times.
Dude. You should try a diamond hole saw for cutting tiles, etc. They are fairly inexpensive and drill a perfect, easy hole in glass.
This^ I paused the video to look them up on Amazon.$20 for a set.
I picked up a set based on your suggestion and yup, they're great. Bit tricky to get the hole started without marring up the glass, but makes a nice clean hole. Already used them to make a new upgraded chamber for the system. thanks!
@@thethoughtemporium agreed... you sort of have to start them at an angle then roll them flat. Glad I could help!
@@danfoster326 which is exactly what I ended up doing. First vacuum test won't be for a week or so, so won't know how well things are holding up until then, but so far seems promising
Props for the "FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER!" and hinting at a followup to the rotovap.
"The high voltage is from a microwave transformer..."
That's rad, maybe i should dig the old-
"...will hurt the entire time you are dying"
...
I have to admit that you make this look so easy.
“And will hurt the entire time you’re dying”
My laughter hurts more than that right now.
I always love a new Thought Emporium video
FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER!!!!! Good video👍
Do you have numbers on the amps you where pulling?
NICEE, ive worked with a sputtering machine in my ceramic internship. They where used to cover the ceramics in a gold layer, so they could used in the electron microscope
(grabs an empty pickle jar) Hey, can I throw that away?
- Careful, it's my fusion reactor core!
This channel is like Applied Science but, you know, fun to watch!
Hey is your lactose Gene therapy still kicking? Has it worn off you and have you done anything else with it? Just curious
If I only had a bio friend who could -do this to me- show me how to do this to myself...
Zahlenteufel1 do you want full body cancer too?
Probably still works. He said in an update video that that it was and there were nothing really to report.
I expect an update video, if it ever stops working.
.. Actually, what I expect, is to see gene therapy available in a few -decades, because trials- years and lactose intolerance a thing of the past.
Great job man. Once again you’ve delivered quality science with practical costs. Other channels make science seem like a rich mans game, but you always show your subscribers a working mans experiment. Its better to put in the elbow grease than to shell out bucks. (Especially if you’ve already shelled out for great tools). Thank you.
There is a two part epoxy product specifically for vacuum applications called Torr Seal.
Now THIS is a proper UA-cam channel
Im triggered the water cooling on the magnet didnt have any RGB Leds
Those give bonus cooling
Nonono they give extra FPS wich isn't needed here
@@germankerman984 na bro,
This is so good, I've never even thought that someone would make a video on this. Best sciene channel on UA-cam right now.
Great video, Filled with info aaand FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER!
I remember dancing around after synthesizing a long sought after compound, 15 yrs ago. Its an amazing feeling even repeating some of theses things, can you imagine discovering them from scratch.
Quickly turning into gettho Ben krasnow ;)
Joking aside, great work man. Very inspiring.
oh man, you know GLASS, and METAL, are my trigger words
This is like applied science's youtube channel took roids and decided to upload once a week instead of once every 3 Months.
Yess a FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER. That guy is great.
Random tip 112: use your finger or a forming tool dipped in acetone to smooth silicone goop
Water is fine. In my experience saliva works well. hahah sorry that's not a recommendation.
I see a man of culture, have been watching Rich Rebuilds
;)
DLC synthesis is, in fact hard and complicated. I am a co-author of a paper on flame synthesis of diamond like carbon from a college internship. My tips, vary both temperature and flow. The rate of deposition has a significant impact on the formation rate of carbon, allowing it to form large crystals or long fractal formations. The temperature, obviously, changes what reaction path the carbon takes. What isn't so obvious, however, is how many reactions can occur. Buckyballs, nanotubes, ordered lattices, amorphous DLC, actual diamond nanoparticles, hexagonal diamond lattices (lonsdaleite), carbon chains, etc. Check the properties often. Sometimes a small change can result in a sudden shift between the preferred path. We found that DLC formed best (using flame synthesis with rapeseed oil as fuel) at low temperatures and extremely low oxygen levels, with the flow rate close to the minimum required to sustain the flame.
Do you have some literature I could read about that process? Sounds interesting
@@thethoughtemporium "Kinetically driven graphite-like to diamond-like carbon transformation in low temperature laminar diffusion flames"
Published to ScienceDirect in May 2017
I hope I spelled all that correctly, sheesh. Talk about word salad. :D
Be careful about xrays as there might be some from shooting electrons (from the ionization) at metal with energies of up to 2keV.
Indeed. Soft X-rays are possible and UV is certain, so make sure you are wearing the proper eye protection or just using a camera.
Isn't soft x-rays starts at 10-15kv ?
You said it....
Modern magic is literally nowadays science.
Can you try coating wood with metal?
The wood would probably burn in the hot plasma
@@zjeboslaw ...more "out gas" than burn in those conditions.
Congrats on getting it to work. It was really cool to see this done with such a simple set up(in comparison to how it’s done commercially).
13:13 "utmost care needs to be exercised around the high voltage wires"
Wires sitting exposed, unsecured
WOw! I'm really keen on seeing that mirror-like carbon coating!
"The utmost care needs to be exercised around the high-voltage wires" - Reality: bare wires everywhere and non-high-voltage approved crocodile clips.
Sometimes old mantras ring true... Do as I say, not as I do.... 😂
Watched few of your videos. You are really somebody. I think there are not many people with this knowledge. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Regards.
FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER!!!
Very cool. Love to hear when people do the happy dance.
It's great to see how easy this can be, I was fascinated when I saw Ben Krasnow's video a few years ago but his set up is far less achievable for the average home shop.
Your channel is so wonderful. Thanks for existing!
can't wait to see the upgraded version of this project
Oh this video made me happy on so many different levels. First I was thinking how nice it was that you made an applied science project feel so much more accessible. Then when I saw your diode square in my head I was thinking is that a??? Then you start to mention it and in my head I'm thinking oh no he's gonna do it.... he's gonna say it... then I hear you gloriously say "FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER" and I laughed out loud for an embarrassingly long amount of time. Keep up the good work.
Ahh! I'm obsessed with thin film interference!! I collect iridescent stuff so mentioning making dichoroic mirrors plus mentioning making opal in the icing robot video has me sooooo excited 😍😍
This does put a smile on my face
12:34 I like the NileRed flask you got there mate
Never saw this process before. Awesome.
you may already know this, but try and buy a deposition controller, they are not expensive, I think Ben K used one and if you are patient, some turn up on eBay that have many useful functions. this can help you get repeatable coatings. you're a man after my own heart, keep up the good work.
Some tips. Put a high wattage ballast wound resistor on the output of the transformer (100 ohms or less, some trial and error is required), this will stabilize the plasma. Shield all the organics inside the vacuum, to minimize heating and thus outgassing.
Dave
Very nice! I saw the video and thought it was another post from Ben, but was extremely satisfied to see if was your channel! The more people making videos like these, the better.
It’s unbelievable how much I enjoy your Content and Channel! You got such interesting Videos! Thank you for all that! Keep the great work coming!
Greeting from Germany! ✌🏻
You are awesome. You make me want to up my game and reach for loftier goals.
This channel has grown quite a bit in the past year, keep it up.
If your battery charger for your car or golf cart doesn't work, it's probably the FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER. It's a small square, usually. Imagine the fbr in this video encased in black plastic. Do a Google search of whatever id numbers are on it to buy a new one.
Transformers rarely go bad. In the "old days", one might just dump a bunch of varnish over a shorted out one and try it again after it dries. They vibrate during use and the varnish on the windings can rub thru. If you have one that buzzes loudly, you can jam an insulator in there to quiet it down and prevent damage.
As soon as I saw that FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER and Variac, I chuckled. When I saw that transformer, I stopped chuckling. Super sketchy! I dig it.
A small bit of advice from someone who spent the last 10 years working with vacuum systems for a solar energy company. Silicone is pretty much the worst material for gaskets in vacuum systems. It isn't obvious unless you look at the materials data but silicone has extremely high "permeability " (the measure of how much gas can permeate through a material). For an inexpensive alternative you can use butyl rubber, though it has a fairly limited maximum use temperature. The better choice is viton, which has nearly the lowest permeability of all rubber like materials, and also has a high maximum use temperature. There are some super high performance gasket materials, like Chemraz, Calrez, etc, but these can be wildly expensive.
A single rubber o-ring or gasket can leak and outgass more than the entire rest of your vacuum system.
It can also save lots of time reaching a decent vacuum to bake everything that is going to be evacuated in an oven. Use the highest temperature that your materials can safely withstand, and bake under vacuum if possible.
The biggest culprit for getting a good vacuum, assuming no leaks or high permeability rubber seals, is water molecules adhering to the glass, metal, etc, in the vacuum system. Even at the relatively weak vacuums used in air conditioning systems (prior to charging with refrigerant) of about 100 micron or millitorr, water molecules being released from the inside of the copper tube can stop the vacuum from decreasing, below a few hundred micron, for several days.
You may wish to watch my latest video. It's this.... but done properly.
1:17 "i kept using whatever garbage i had around" LOL i love dthat spirit!
Another quick lathe tip, when threading you can stick a rigid piece of metal in your tool holder and turn the lathe on with the lowest RPM, the die holder will then slide along the metal piece while it threads the part.
Just make sure to use plenty of oil and stop the machine in time lol.
this sent me down a mad rabbit hole and I'm not satisfied but thank you
it took a while, but I managed to build mine. thank you for great videos about it.
Yes please. I used to use sputter coating for SEM microscopy but there are so many other applications.
I laughed SO HARD when you said full bridge rectifier
amazing work!
Huge nerd points for the *HUGE BRIDGE RECTIFIER*
I have got a chance to use this for coating my samples for electron microscope. I always wondered how it worked and finally got to know it
Awesome modern manufacturing magic.
Pro tip for the vacuum pump: If you are trying to reach vacuums below 10mTorr make sure your oil is very clean. If you have volatiles in your oil they will be boiling within the vane journals and set that as your max vacuum. Your vacuum pump does have a gas ballast valve. Opening that and running for a while will help remove the volatiles from your oil. You will want this to stay closed though when going for deep vacuums.
Something you should also pick up is some Dow Corning High Vacuum Grease. It is made of PFPE oil and has a very low vapor pressure, so it will not off-gas into your process.
Can’t wait for the follow up
Dang dude, you’re so cool! Thanks for sharing your awesome talents and skills that you’ve honed for years. It’s wonderful to have access to so much knowledge!
Years ago, I worked at the University of Minnesota with Phil Johnson in lecture demo. One time he showed me a handheld interferometer and with one hand adjusted the length of one arm until he got it just right. If you held it up close to your eyes, you could actually see the air currents! There was only the overhead lights for this demo. No lasers or anything.
I really want to use something like this for a lead-in to a LIGO interferometer documentary.
.... what. Do you have more info on this? that sounds awesome and I'd totally build one
@@thethoughtemporium It looked a small drop forged a metal base with two front surface mirrors about 1.5" or 2" square, one fixed and one adjustable with a fine pitch screw and a beamsplitter of similar size. It was stupidly simple arrangement. But if you held the unit between your eyes and your outstretched hand, you could see the heat waves coming off your hand.!!
And because you are using white light, the coherence length is almost zero, that is the optical distance one leg has to be almost exactly the same as the other leg to get this effect. With a monochromatic light like a laser beam, you have an almost infinite coherence length as you can adjust the leg length willy nilly and always get fringes.
I'm not sure about the optical quality of the mirrors but I would guess they were quarter wave. But I don't think that is required to get the effect. But it would be fun to imagine how it would work if the mirrors were perfectly flat.
Came for the knowledge. Stayed for the wizardry.
Great video. Some ideas: 1) Cool your magnets with a peltier cooler, no water cooling. 2) Look at other materials for the cradle, IE: Niobium, Nichrome. 3) Could you polarize the two pieces ? To be coated +, sacrificial piece - ? Work temps inside the chamber would be great data for alternative construction materials. Subbed and keep up the great work.
Thank you for the video. I have been curious about this process for quite some time. There is one othe process that comes to mind which uses a vacuum chamber with a nichrome wire element on which you suspend a small piece of the type of metal you wish to use in your coating process. Once a vaccum is achieved current is fed through the nichrome element until the metal sample melts and wets the nichrome wire. After the sample is melted the current is increased allot which vaporizes the metal. The vapour rises and condenses onto the glass slide which is held above the nichrome element. This process is used to coat telescope mirrors as well as plastics for headlight reflectors in cars.
"...and will hurt the entire time you're dying." Y'know, there's a lot of channels out there that casually toss around microwave transformers as an easy-pants way to drum up high voltage for no end of things. When you know how to use something safely (or sometimes just think you do), things stop being scary. It's good to toss in a little "this will kill you" sometimes, to hopefully keep people from licking giant capacitors and doing other dumb stuff.
Well the job you've done is incredible! You made a magnetic sputter well!
Top notch work. Please sputter tungsten next. You can get a plate for balsa wood car weights. The water cooler is an awesome addition.
FOO BRIDGE RECTEFIAH!
I loved that reference, thank you
Next up: DIY Vantablack!! Also, gold sputtering microscopy samples, then build your own Scanning Tunneling Electron Microscope. :)