TOOLS & TECHNIQUES UPDATE
Working in the cold The fourth edition of Experimental Techniques in LowTemperature Physics by Guy White and Philip Meeson has taken into account all the changes in the past 20 years in cryogenic technology. It aims to provide a resource enabling physicists, materials scientists, engineers, physical chemists, and biologists to carry out low temperature investigations. It is targeted at both graduate students and professionals, combining information on basic physics, techniques, and commercially available products. This edition also includes comprehensive tables of the physical properties of metals, polymers, and ceramics. Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0-19-851428-X Publication: 21 February 2002 Paperback, pp. 292 Price: £29.50 / $50
Contact: www.oup.com
Pressure controller MKS Instruments, Inc. is producing a new digital pressure controller for use in semiconductor processing applications. The MKS Type PC10A is a self-contained system that uses the DeviceNet™ communications protocol. Its applications include chemical vapor deposition source gas delivery, wafer cooling, and loadlock pressure control. The device consists of a MKS Baratron® capacitance manometer, a proportioning
Mini ion gun Oxford Applied Research is releasing a new ion source for specimen cleaning, sputtering, and surface modification applications. The MIG5 Ion Source uses a
Contact: www.polymer-books.com
pressure ranges of 10-1000 torr and 30-100 psia are available. Contact: www.mksinst.com
filamentless cold-cathode principle to operate with a low gas flow and is compatible with reactive gases including oxygen, as well as inert gases. The ion gun operates in an energy range of 0.2-5 keV, with beam currents of up to 80 µA. It is simple to use and has an instant start-up, saving time in sample preparation.
Measuring thin dielectric films The new MQ Garnet 300 laser ellipsometer/reflectometer from Philips Analytical measures ultra-thin dielectric films with sub-Angstrom repeatability and long-term stability. It can determine
Contact: www.oaresearch.com
thickness, refractive index, absorption constants, and reflectivity for transparent and opaque films ranging
High resolution near infrared arrays Jobin Yvon, Inc. is introducing a new generation of the IGA3000 Near Infrared (NIR) Array series. The detectors have InGaAs linear arrays with 512 pixel elements of
First of four The Handbook of Polymer Blends and Composites, Volume One, edited by Anand K. Kulshreshtha and Cornelia Vasile, is the first in a series of four volumes. The volume includes both theoretical and practical investigations on the fundamental nature of polymer composites and the thermodynamics of mixing multicomponent systems. The book is aimed at students, academic researchers, and workers in industry. Later volumes will cover polymer blends. Publisher: Rapra Technology Limited ISBN: 1-85957-249-9 Hardback, pp. 558 Price: £150 / $225 / 255
control valve, and digital control electronics. Full-scale
25 × 500 µm and a wavelength sensitivity of 0.8-1.7 µm. The high resolution devices are ideal for spectroscopy analysis and are available with liquid nitrogen cooling or two-stage Peltier cooling to -30°C.
from nanometers to several microns. Designed to support new technologies moving from R&D to fullscale production, the instrument offers manual loading for R&D applications, but also fully automated 300 mm wafer characterization. The MQ Garnet 300 has a small footprint and comes with Windows NT® compliant software. Contact: www.analytical.philips.com
Contact: www.jyhoriba.co.uk
The three S’s Flexible friends
Thermo Oriel, a business unit of Thermo Electron, is introducing a new fine particle analyzer – the Triple-S™.
One-Step and One-Step Plus are two new air-operated
The scattering of elliptically polarized light from
double diaphragms (AODD) introduced by Tri-Ark Ltd.
particle suspensions is used to measure particle size,
These PTFE-protected diaphragms combine the
shape, and structure (the three ‘S’s’ highlighted by the
chemical resistance of PTFE with the flex characteristics
instrument’s name). Intensity and polarization of the
of an elastomer. Standard PTFE is used in One-Step, but
scattered light is measured at a number of angular
a modified PTFE is used in One-Step Plus diaphragms,
positions. This allows analysis of a wide range of
giving a thinner outer layer. Manufactured as one piece,
particle shapes over a range 50 nm-2 µm, without use
with the PTFE chemically bound to the rubber, the
of an electron microscope.
possibility of leakage and separation normally
The Triple-S™ also determines size distribution
associated with two-piece diaphragms is avoided. This
statistics, and is able to discriminate between
ensures the flexlife is not compromised and the result is
monomers and agglomerates, identifying the number of
a diaphragm capability in excess of 12 million cycles.
monomers in an agglomerate.
Contact: www.tri-ark.com
Contact: www.thermo-oriel.com
June 2002
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