This facility is dedicated to the deposition of thin films and overlayers for nuclear materials research and development using reactive or inert gas magnetron sputtering. The facility has a rotary sample stage capable of in situ heating to 850 C, three sputter guns, precision gas control, a residual gas analyzer (a quadrupole mass spectrometer), a thickness monitor, and an antechamber for sample insertion. This facility has been used to grow single crystal uranium oxide and nitride compounds and metal coatings for enhanced accident fuel cladding. The facility has supported several M.S. theses and three Ph.D. dissertations. The magnetron sputtering facility is currently supporting accident tolerant research (Cr coatings on Zircaloy) under DOE NEUP sponsorship.
Sputter gun Ar plasma.
CrAl coating on Zircaloy 2.