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。该仪器将大大改善南达科他州的研究设施和能力。该设备将被许多研究人员用于开发和测试新型锗探测器设计，其中一些在暗物质和中微子探测方面具有很好的应用前景，另一些则用于医学成像。这些设备和专门的探测器制造实验室有望实现异常广泛的广泛影响。这包括医学研究的进步，但也包括更普遍的领域，如环境监测或国土安全。此外，该小组有一个记录，涉及学生从代表性不足的群体在研究中。计划中的仪器将使多学科研究和50多名学生将接受培训。该项目计划使用一种溅射系统，其配置可通过利用原位基板托盘翻转机构从两侧为每批基板涂覆直径达4英寸和厚度达3英寸的涂层。溅射是涉及气态等离子体的沉积技术，所述气态等离子体被产生并被限制在包含待沉积的靶（衬底）的空间中。靶的表面被等离子体中的高能离子侵蚀，并且释放的原子穿过真空环境并沉积到衬底中以形成薄膜。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NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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.