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WORK

Monday, last week after solving our
"last" problem (the vacuum gauge wasn't
working because we hadn't opened the
valve between it and the vacuum... at
least we had it plugged in), we fired up
the Ultra-High Vacuumm Sputter
Deposition system I've been assembling
for months.  Got a plasma giving off a
really neat violet-blue glow inside the
chamber.  We also got some impressive
plumes of smoke pouring out the top of
the Magnetron unit as some flimsy RF
bridge fried way below it's rated power.
(No point in being a scientist if you
can't blow something up once in awhile,
I always say.)  Later on something
popped and something glowing white hot
fell off of the target onto the
substrates.  Then something happened to
the seals and we started losing vacuum.
Well, we were planning on changing to a
six inch target, anyway, might as well
replace the whole head assembly, right?
     
On another front, I finally convinced
Boss #2b that that 100 degree overshoots
in our rapid thermal annealing furnace
were unacceptable, and "we've been doing
it that way for three years" is not a
good reason for encasing one's control
thermocouple inside a glob of insulating
ceramic cement.  The test runs with a
new (and nude) thermocouple looked good
(though it's puzzling that both samples
got slightly *better* -- a small
improvement in coercivity in each -- but
I guess things can't go wrong all of the
time).  The next problem is to introduce
some materials science into our choice
of annealing atmospheres, the only
problem being that I suspect we should
be using Chlorine (i.e. Mustard Gas).
Or maybe just hydrochloric acid vapor
would work...

But by the end of the week, I was
getting into fights with Boss #2a.
(Distressing, because usually our only
problem is he wants me to quit work and
take coffee breaks too often).  He
insisted on re-designing and replacing
the substrate holder pallets in all
three chambers, when I was arguing for
re-designing just the substrate holder
that has to fit on top of them.  And
then, I started asking him questions
about how the cooling in the pallets
work.  He didn't know the answer, and
didn't care because he'd been doing it
that way for the last X years...
Personally, I think I've hit on
something that's a serious flaw in the                    History vindicated
design...  a possible failure mode, and                   me rather quickly 
a definite uncontrolled variable.  The                    on this account,  
cooling conditions in the substrate                       anyway.           
holder partly depend on how you happen                                      
to tighten up the brass fittings from                                       
the water lines.  This does not seem                      
like a great situation to me.                             
                                                          
All in all, it was a pretty good week.                    
                                                          
                                                          
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            

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