MRI-Acquisition: Sputtering System for Developing Novel Germanium Detectors and Materials

该奖项将为南达科他州大学（USD）和南达科他州立大学（SDSU）物理系开发新型锗（Ge）探测器和材料研究提供新的溅射系统。该仪器将大大提高南达科他州的研究设施和能力。该装置将被许多研究人员用于开发和测试新的锗探测器设计，其中一些有希望应用于暗物质和中微子探测，另一些则用于医学成像。该设备和专门的探测器制造实验室有望实现更广泛影响的不同寻常的广谱。这包括医学研究的进步，但更普遍的是，在环境监测或国土安全等领域。此外，该小组在研究中有来自代表性不足群体的学生的记录。计划中的仪器将使多学科研究成为可能，并将培训50多名学生。该项目计划使用原位基板托盘翻转机制，为每批基板提供直径达4英寸、厚度达3英寸的溅射系统。溅射是一种涉及气体等离子体的沉积技术，该等离子体产生并限制在包含要沉积的目标（衬底）的空间内。目标表面被等离子体内的高能离子侵蚀，释放出来的原子穿过真空环境，沉积到衬底上，形成薄膜。溅射技术已被用于开发新型锗探测器，通过在高纯度的锗晶体上制造非晶锗（a-Ge）或a-Si薄膜来制造电接触，从而为电子和空穴提供双极阻挡。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award will provide a new sputtering system for developing novel germanium (Ge) detectors and materials research in the Departments of Physics at the University of South Dakota (USD) and at South Dakota State University (SDSU). This instrument will significantly improve the research facility and capability in the state of South Dakota. The device will be used by a number of investigators to develop and test novel germanium detector designs, some with promising applications to dark matter and neutrino detection, others for medical imaging. The equipment and the dedicated detector fabrication laboratory promise to realize an unusually broad spectrum of Broader Impact. This includes advances in medical research, but also more generically, in fields like environmental monitoring or homeland security. In addition, the group has a track record of involving students from underrepresented groups in the research. The planned instrument will enable multidisciplinary research and more than 50 students will be trained.A sputtering system with a configuration to coat up to 4 inches in diameter and 3 inches in thickness for substrates per batch from both sides by utilizing an in-situ substrate pallet flipping mechanism is planned in this project. Sputtering is a deposition technology involving a gaseous plasma which is generated and confined to a space containing a target (substrate) to be deposited. The surface of the target is eroded by high-energy ions within the plasma, and the liberated atoms travel through the vacuum environment and are deposited into a substrate to form a thin film. The sputtering technology has been used in developing novel Ge detectors by creating amorphous Ge (a-Ge) or a-Si thin films onto high-purity Ge crystals to make electrical contacts, which provide bipolar blocking for electrons and holes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.