SPEAR

SPEAR Components:

• Load-Lock Chamber
  
  

  This chamber is used for inserting and retrieving sample from SPEAR, without having to vent the whole system. Up to 5 different samples can be exchanged at a time. Once the chamber is loaded, it can be pumped from atmosphere down to 10^-10 torr in roughly 8 hours.
  
  

• Transfer Chamber
  
  

  This is the central chamber, equipped with an extendable arm, mounted on a rotating carousel. This allows for easy transfer of samples to and from all other chambers. A separate section of the chamber allows for the loading of samples in special TEM cartridges, which can be subsequently inserted into the UHV-H9000 microscope. The transfer chamber can also store up to 11 individual samples.
  
  

• Analytical Chamber
  
  All characterization takes place here, with some of its capabilities listed here:
  
  

  • X-ray Source - This dual-anode source can be coupled to the hemispherical electron energy analyzer are used to obtain X-ray photoelectron spectra and thus gather surface-sensitive information about the composition of samples and element-specific chemical environment.
    
    

  • Ion Gun - A duoplasmatron ion source and an analog ion beam column capable of producing O, Ar or Xe ions with a maximum accelerating voltage of 10 kV. The gun can attain a probe size of less than 5 microns at a surface, which can be coupled with a secondary electron detector to generate topography-sensitive scanning electron micrographs during sputtering.
    
    

  • Hemispherical Capacitance Analyzer - It can acquire either XPS or AES spectra with high energy resolution, allowing for detection of shifts due to chemical bonding effects at the surface.
    
    

• Gas Treatment Cell
  
  

  This chamber contains two heating stages: one for UHV annealing at up to ~1000^oC and another one for high pressure anneals. The latter can be hydraulically retracted into a small subchamber where one can heat samples under O, N or Ar gas flow.