Maintenance and improved operation of a high-density etching reactor intended for fundamental studies and applications to photonic materials

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The equipment requested is essential for pursuing my research program on high-density plasmas for nanometer patterning of advanced photonic materials. For addressing the present challenges facing this field, I have proposed a research program based on a truly scientific foundation. My goal is to investigate critical issues in plasma etching of photonic materials using my existing bench test high-density plasma reactor by putting the emphasis on materials of immediate interest for photonic applications, in particular VO2, LaSrMnO3 and LiNbO3. One of the crucial needs for pursuing this research is the availability of a confinement magnetic field that allows maintaining a sufficient plasma density while operating at the very low pressure appropriate for the etching of many materials. This field is generated by a set of electromagnetic coils powered by a DC high-current power supply that need to be urgently replaced to prevent failure. The other crucial need is a spectrometer able to provide sufficient spectral resolution in order to measure the gas temperature from the rotational structure of various molecular bands of either nitrogen, OH or CN. Such measurements are crucial to achieve a better understanding of the discharge dynamics in correlation with the etching characteristics. This equipment is critically important not only for the development of my own research, but also for the training of the students involved in plasma etching, namely 3 Ph.D and 1 M.Sc students, as well as those of my various collaborators.