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NFML

Lab Facilities

State-of-the-art equipment for raw material processing, thin film deposition, material synthesis, and advanced electronic and thermal characterization.

Sputtering Target Fabrication Facility SHARED FACILITY

Planetary Ball Mill 02

Slurry Preparation (Planetary Ball Mill)

Powders are mixed with suitable binder and plasticizer to form a homogeneous slurry. The planetary ball mill ensures uniform dispersion and good flowability.

  • Fineness: Feed Size ≤ 10 mm. Final Fineness ≤ 1.0 μm, ≤ 0.1 μm (<100nm for colloidal grinding).
  • Capacity: No. of Grinding Station 1 (With one grinding platform Can process 2 samples with 50 ml Grinding jar & 4 Samples with 12ml Grinding jar simultaneously).
  • Speeds: Speed of Grinding Jar 100~1300 rpm, Sun Wheel Speed 100 – 650 RPM, Speed Ratio 1: -2.0.
  • Performance: G-Force 33.3 g, Effective sunwheel diameter 260 mm.
  • Materials: Zirconium oxide MOC Grinding Jars (80 ml) & Balls. Media 1 mm – 40 mm Grinding Balls with 6 Kinds of MOC's.
  • Control: 7" inch LED Industrial Touch Screen display.
  • Operation: Interval Operation With Automatic Direction Reversal. Setting of Grinding Time Digital 00:00:01 to 99:59:59 hrs or 01-999 min. Holding/Pause Time Digital 00:00:01 to 99:59:59 hrs or 01-99 min.
Cold Press 04

Powder Compaction

Granules are compacted in a die-set using a heavy-duty hydraulic cold press to form solid green body pellets ready for heat treatment.

  • Capacity: 150 Tons
Tube Furnace 05

Sintering

The green body pellet is sintered at high temperature in a controlled-atmosphere tube furnace to obtain a dense, strong, and hard pellet with excellent mechanical stability.

  • Max Temperature: 1600 °C
  • Heating Elements: MoSi2
  • Configuration: Single zone heating (250 mm heating length)
  • Tube Dimensions: 70 mm Inner Diameter (ID)
Bonding Machine 06

Ultrasonic Bonding

The sintered pellet is ultrasonically bonded using indium to a copper backing plate. This establishes a strong metallurgical bond and provides excellent thermal conduction.

Ultrasonic NDT Machine 07

Ultrasonic NDT Inspection

Sputtering target and interface are inspected for sub-surface or interfacial flaws (e.g., cavities, lack of bond, delamination) using an ultrasonic NDT tester, ensuring target reliability and a long, defect-free service life.

Synthesis of Thin Films of Functional Ceramics

Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) SHARED FACILITY

PLD Excimer Laser Setup

KrF Excimer Laser Integration: A comprehensive setup for synthesizing high-quality epitaxial thin films of functional ceramics like ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics, and high-k dielectrics.

  • Wavelength: 248 nm
  • Substrate Temperature: Room Temperature (RT) to 800 °C
  • Repetition Rate: Up to 10 Hz
PLD Solid-State Laser Setup

Solid-State Laser Integration: Coupled with high-vacuum chambers, ensuring pristine environmental control and versatile deposition parameters for intricate functional heterostructures.

  • Wavelength: 266 nm
  • Substrate Temperature: Room Temperature (RT) to 780 °C
  • Repetition Rate: Up to 10 Hz

Sputter Deposition (RF Magnetron) UPCOMING

Sputter Deposition Chamber

A highly versatile upcoming facility featuring Co-sputtering, load-lock sample transfers, and In Situ Diagnostics to monitor plasma parameters in real-time.

  • Load-Lock: Yes, for rapid and pristine sample transfer capability.
  • Process Gases: N2, Ar, O2
  • Substrate: 2" dia. with continuous rotation facility and heater up to 800 °C.
  • Configurations: 2 sputter guns for co-sputtering in confocal geometry, or 1 gun for head-on deposition.
  • Target-to-Substrate: Tunable distance from 3.5 cm to 10 cm.
  • RF Power: Two RF sources (300 W each) equipped with automatic impedance matching networks.
  • Power & Biasing: DC biasing capability for the power supply up to 100 V.
  • In Situ Diagnostics: Langmuir probe capability to measure plasma potential. (Possible future upgrade to add optical emission spectroscopy).

Solution Casting

Direct Coating: Compatible with varied dimensions, highly useful for preparing thick functional films without complex vacuum equipment.

Phase Inversion (Flexible Composite Films): Enables fabrication of flexible, porous, and lightweight films utilizing non-solvent induced phase separation. Excellent for next-generation thermoelectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric flexible composites.

Characterisation Techniques

Thermoelectric Measurement Schematic

Thermoelectric Property Measurement

A specialized setup developed in-house to measure the conversion of thermal energy to electrical energy, critical for waste heat harvesting applications. It features an in-house built LabVIEW data acquisition program for continuous monitoring and logging of data.

  • Capable of both in-plane and perpendicular-to-plane Seebeck coefficient and power factor measurements.
  • Determines electrical conductivity precisely.
DSO Output Voltage Measurement

Output Voltage Measurement

Focuses on the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy. The output voltage measurement system is highly capable of measuring the mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion in piezoelectric and triboelectric nanogenerators, analyzing transient and continuous power output under stress.

P-E Loop Tracer Setup
Image credit: Marine India Pvt. Ltd.

P-E Loop Tracer UPCOMING

  • Measures Polarization: Tracks Polarization Vs Electric Field over various cycles and temperatures.
  • Parameter Estimation: Accurately estimates Pmax (Maximum Polarization), Pr (Remanent Polarization), and Ec (Coercive Field).
  • Probes Endurance: Evaluates fatigue and endurance limits under repeated switching.
  • Strain Analysis: Estimates Electrostriction and associated mechanical responses.