LUXOR’s unique A² technology generates a plasma and sputters it in a controlled and accurate manner. This results in an extremely uniform, thin and homogeneous gold or platinum coating on your non-conductive material.
The LUXOR coaters are renowned for their speedy and intuitive operation and ease of use, providing high-quality SEM images when working with beam sensitive and non-conductive samples.
Our coaters
A2 Technology
LUXOR’s unique A² Technology generates a plasma and applies it in a controlled and accurate manner, resulting in an extremely uniform, thin and homogeneous coating. This is achieved by creating a vacuum in the sputter reactor and applying a high voltage. Next, by automatically dosing small amounts of process gas into the reactor at a high frequency, the set coating current is attained, constantly monitored and stabilised.
The unique way this process is controlled and adjusted is what distinguishes the LUXOR sputter coaters from other commercially available instruments. For the SEM operator this means more homogeneous metal coatings, resulting in high resolution and high contrast images and a worry-free sputter coating process without any manual intervention.
Upside down design
In LUXOR sputter coaters, the samples and target are mounted “upside down”. While this might seem a little controversial at first sight, it is actually a consequence of our ‘form follows function’ approach.
The upside down concept brings many advantages. First, all high voltage and current wires are safely hidden within the sputter device. This obviously greatly reduces the risk of electric shocks and more operator safety.
Next, the sample loading station is easily accessible and allows to position and remove the samples much easier and faster. This doesn’t just make everyday use easier, but also speeds up productivity and use in “challenging” environments such as clean rooms and glove boxes.
The upside down design makes sure that loose particles will be removed during the coating process. This way, your expensive SEM column is optimally protected. Moreover, particles with higher mass in the plasma are pulled towards the pump and do not take part in the sputter coating process, resulting in better coating quality.
Fully automated
The coating process is fully automated. As soon as your samples are loaded, you only have to select the desired coating thickness and push the start button.
Thanks to this user friendly process, the chance of human errors is significantly reduced. New operators and lab personnel can operate the device after only a few minutes of basic training.
BENEFITS OF SPUTTER COATING
– Reduces the beam penetration and optimizes the spatial resolution of the backscattered signal, with improved edge resolution as a result
– Improves backscatter and secondary electron emission (higher signal to noise ratio)
– Increases thermal conduction and reduces sample charging
– Reduces electron beam damage to beam sensitive samples
Applications
