Experimental Methods & Techniques
The WMI is equipped with state of the art facilities for the preparation and characterization of superconducting and magnetic materials as well as for various low and ultra-low temperature experiments. In the following the main experimental and technological resources of WMI are listed:
Materials Preparation and Fabrication of Nanostructures:
- Laser Molecular Beam Epitaxy system for oxide heterostructures (equipped with in--situ RHEED, AFM/STM system, atomic oxygen source, laser heating system, metallization)
- UHV magnetron sputtering systems for metals (e.g. Nb, Al, NiPd, ... )
- magnetron sputtering system for oxide heteroepitaxy (equipped with four sputtering guns and an oxygen ion gun)
- UHV metal MBE system (equipped with e-gun and thermal evaporators)
- reactive ion etching (RIE) system, Plasmalab 80 Plus with ICP plasma source, Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology
- ion beam etching (IBE) system equipped with a LN2 cooled sample holder
- polishing machine for substrate preparation
- ultrasonic bonding machine
- 50 m2 class 1000 clean room facility
- photolithography (Süss maskaligner MJB~3 and projection lithography)
- electron beam lithography (nanoBeam)
- four-mirror image furnace for crystal growth
Characterization:
- 2-circle x-ray diffractometer (Bruker D8 Advance, sample temperature up to 1600°C
- high resolution 4-circle x-ray diffractometer (Bruker D8 Discover)
- scanning electron microscope with EDX analysis
- 2048u high resolution mass spectrometer (Fa. Pfeiffer, cross beam ion source, SEM)
- two Raman spectroscopy systems (1.5 to 300K, in-situ sample preparation)
- SQUID magnetometer (Quantum Design, 1.5 to 700K, up to 7 Tesla)
- several high field magnet systems (up to 17 Tesla) with variable temperature inserts
- 7 Tesla split coil magnet systems with optical access and variable temperature insert
- experimental set--ups for the measurement of noise including low noise SQUID amplifiers and signal analyzers
- high-frequency network analyzer (up to 40 GHz) and various microwave components (sources, mixers, circulators, attenuators) for the determination of high frequency parameters
- high-frequency cryogenic probing station (up to 20 GHz, T>4K)
Low temperature systems and techniques:
- several 3He/4He dilution refrigerator inserts for temperatures down to 10 mK
- "dry" mK-cooler based on a dilution refrigerator with pulse-tube precooling
- experimental set-ups for the measurement of magnetization, thermal expansion as well as electrical and thermal transport properties as a function of temperature, magnetic field and pressure