6/8/2006 Particle Physics Division Technical Centers

1

Vacuum Deposition Thin Film Coatings Facility at Lab 7

Eileen Hahn

6/8/2006 Particle Physics Division Technical Centers

2

Services Offered Optical fiber and connector polishing Fiber splicing Evaporated and sputtered coatings,

especially fiber mirroring Cleaning and bake-out for UHV parts High temperature vacuum furnace

(1200 C) -hydrogen degassing of SRF cavities

RGA and out-gassing studies Plasma etching

6/8/2006 Particle Physics Division Technical Centers

3

High Output Production History of Optical Fiber Polishing & Mirroring

CDF Plug and Muon Tracker CMS HCAL CREAM D0 Central Fiber Tracker, VLPC Production,

ICD, Forward Pre-Shower & Forward Proton Detectors

NASA-GLAST PHENIX STAR-EMC Fiber barrel & End cap

Polished >1,000,000 fibers Mirrored >500,000 fibers

6/8/2006 Particle Physics Division Technical Centers

4

Polish and Mirror Processing of Optic Fibers

“Ice Polishing” Quality Control Preparation for Mirroring Sputter Deposition in Vacuum Optional UV epoxy coating of mirrored

ends Transport Packaging

6/8/2006 Particle Physics Division Technical Centers

5

“Ice Polishing” of Optical Fibers 2 programmable diamond polishers built at

Fermilab specially engineered to reduce/eliminate vibration

Frozen water clamps fibers eliminating chatter and lubricates allowing for high rpm and slow feed recipe for high quality polish

Fabricate special hex fixtures to hold fiber bundles normal to cut Individual Fibers ranging from 0.35mm to

2mm diameters Round and square cross section fibers Setup for fiber lengths from 5cm to

10m Rate of production is dependent on diameter

6/8/2006 Particle Physics Division Technical Centers

6

Quality Controls Daily testing procedure of polishing results Attention to machine maintenance Log keeping Visual inspection of fiber polish under

magnification Monitoring of sputter process, tracking

identification and visual inspection Reflectivity testing has been handled by

the experimenters –Reflectivty rates have ranged from 80% to 90% consistently

6/8/2006 Particle Physics Division Technical Centers

7

Prep for Mirroring of Optical Fiber ends Amber room lights for light sensitive fibers

(such as 3HF) Experienced handling and cleaning of

delicate fibers All fibers handled with CR100 rated gloves

6/8/2006 Particle Physics Division Technical Centers

8

Sputter Deposition System for Aluminizing fiber ends

6/8/2006 Particle Physics Division Technical Centers

9

Fiber Mirroring Sputter Process

2 vacuum systems specifically built and dedicated to optical fiber sputtering

Varying diameters & lengths can be mirrored - systems were designed to accommodate production lengths of 2.5 meters. Auxiliary extension will handle 3.5 meter long fibers

Sputter load dependent on diameter - typically 500 to 2000 fibers per pump down per unit

99.999% chemically pure aluminum target Very pure argon gas “Sputtering Grade” used 3000 Angstrom thick coating monitored with

oscillating quartz crystal sensor Magnetron sputtering gun driven by DC power supply

6/8/2006 Particle Physics Division Technical Centers

10

Summary

We have been providing this service over the last 15 years

Supporting FNAL experiments University R&D DOE and International Facilities

On time and on budget!!