{"id":13859,"date":"2025-08-11T09:56:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T13:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/?page_id=13859"},"modified":"2025-08-11T10:00:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T14:00:51","slug":"equipment-updates-acquisitions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/sharedfacilities\/equipment-updates-acquisitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Equipment Updates & Acquisitions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Photonics Center maintains its commitment to providing researchers with advanced research infrastructure through continuous improvements and strategic investments. Each year, we strengthen our research environment through targeted investments in faculty support, laboratory upgrades, and equipment acquisition. <\/span><\/p>\n

2025<\/h2>
<\/p>\n

<\/span>NEW<\/em> \u2013 Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)<\/h3>\n

Two reactive ion etching (RIE) instruments completed installation and process acceptance testing, becoming operational in summer 2024. These systems feature advanced endpoint detection, temperature-controlled electrode plates, and multi-gas delivery capabilities supporting fluorine, chlorine, and oxygen-based chemistries. The instruments enable precise anisotropic etching of silicon, III-V semiconductors, dielectrics, and metals with etch rates ranging from nanometers to micrometers per minute, significantly enhancing our micro and nanofabrication capabilities.<\/p>\n

\n

NEW\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 Nanoscribe GT2<\/h3>\n

Through the generous donation of Professor Alice White, we acquired a Nanoscribe GT2 system for our shared facilities. This two-photon polymerization system utilizes a 780 nm femtosecond laser for direct laser writing, achieving feature sizes down to 200 nm with positioning accuracy better than 100 nm. The system supports both dip-in laser lithography (DiLL) and oil immersion lithography configurations, enabling fabrication of 3D microstructures up to several millimeters in size. Applications include photonic crystals, metamaterials, micro-optics, microfluidic devices, and biomedical scaffolds. The instrument now occupies dedicated space in our newly established Room 628 facility on the sixth floor, complete with vibration isolation and environmental controls.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

NEW<\/em> \u2013 Angstrom Engineering Thermal Evaporator CoVAP System<\/h3>\n

We installed an Angstrom Engineering thermal evaporator CoVap system in fall 2024, replacing the decommissioned Edwards thermal evaporator. This multi-source system features six evaporation sources with individual shutters, quartz crystal monitors for real-time thickness control, and substrate rotation for improved uniformity. The system achieves base pressures below 10\u207b\u2077 Torr and supports co-evaporation of multiple materials, enabling precise fabrication of multilayer structures, gradient films, and alloys. Deposition rates are controllable from 0.1 to 50 \u00c5\/s with thickness uniformity better than \u00b12% across 6-inch substrates.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

NEW<\/em> \u2013 Pulsed Laser Deposition System<\/h3>\n

Our shared labs technical staff assisted with installing an NSF-funded pulsed laser deposition (PLD) system in the MSE core facilities on the sixth floor. This system employs a KrF excimer laser (248 nm, 25 ns pulse width) with energy densities up to 5 J\/cm\u00b2 for ablating target materials. The high-vacuum chamber (base pressure <10\u207b\u2078 Torr) includes substrate heating capabilities up to 1000\u00b0C and supports reactive deposition in oxygen, nitrogen, and other process gases up to 1 Torr. The PLD system enables epitaxial growth of complex oxide thin films, including superconductors, ferroelectrics, and multiferroics, as well as nitrides and other advanced materials with precise stoichiometric control.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

UPDATE<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Chilled Water System + Accessibility Improvements<\/h3>\n

We addressed the longstanding chilled water system issues that affected equipment performance by engaging external consultants and implementing their recommendations with satisfactory results. Additionally, we enhanced accessibility to our shared laboratories through improved asynchronous online educational resources, including comprehensive standard operating procedures and instructional videos for equipment operation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

2024<\/h2>
<\/p>\n

NEW<\/em> \u2013 Oxford DRIE + ICP RIE + Heidelberg MLA 150<\/h3>\n

The Oxford DRIE and ICP RIE machines are state-of-the-art pieces of equipment, bringing cutting-edge etching capabilities to our campus. The Heidelberg MLA 150 is a maskless aligner with direct laser writing capabilities. This advanced lithography system eliminates the need for masks in optical lithography, dramatically reducing the prototyping turnaround in micro- and nanofabrication processes from weeks to minutes.<\/p>\n

\n

NEW <\/i>\u2013 Allwin21 Rapid Thermal Annealer<\/h3>\n

A new Allwin21 Rapid Thermal Annealer was acquired to replace the existing legacy RTA. This system is capable of reaching high temperatures within seconds, making it ideal for applications such as dopant activation, oxidation, silicidation, and other annealing processes. \u2022<\/p>\n

\n

NEW<\/em> \u2013 Thermal Evaporator<\/h3>\n

A Thermal Evaporator from Angstrom Engineering was purchased to replace the aging Edwards Thermal Evaporator. This system is known for its precision in controlling deposition rates and thicknesses, allowing for high-quality, uniform thin film deposition in matieral science and semiconductor research.<\/p>\n

\n

NEW<\/em> \u2013 Thermo-Fisher Desktop SEM<\/h3>\n

A new Thermo-Fisher Desktop SEM with EDS capability was comissioned, expanding our micro- and nanoimaging accessibility. The Phenom ProX G6 is an advanced desktop scanning electron microscope (SEM) designed for high-resolution imaging and analysis, featuring an integrated energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) system, and enabling detailed elemental analysis and compositional mapping of samples.<\/p>\n

\n

UPDATE<\/em> \u2013 System Repairs<\/h3>\n

Substantial repairs and improvements were carried out to our existing SEM, SEM-converted EBL, TEM, and FIB systems, ensuring that these critical pieces of equipment continue to meet the evolving needs of our research community.<\/p>\n

\n

UPDATE<\/em> \u2013 New Scheduling Platform<\/h3>\n

We continuously evaluate our shared labs\u2019 functionality to eliminate operational bottlenecks and enhance efficiency. This ongoing initiative aims to improve service delivery and better meet our researchers\u2019 needs. After a thorough analysis of our long-standing Google Calendar-based equipment scheduling system, we identified inefficiencies leading to time waste and inequitable instrument usage. Consequently, we have adopted FOM Networks, a new scheduling platform that offers live-usage tracking, real-time instrument breakdown reporting, and integration with hardware access control. This new system not only streamlines scheduling, but helps safeguard the functionality and integrity of our instruments through improved monitoring and management.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Photonics Center maintains its commitment to providing researchers with advanced research infrastructure through continuous improvements and strategic investments. Each year, we strengthen our research environment through targeted investments in faculty support, laboratory upgrades, and equipment acquisition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22337,"featured_media":0,"parent":96,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22337"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13859"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13871,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13859\/revisions\/13871"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}