Scitech Precision Ltd is a company that produces microtargets for high power laser systems using multiple technologies. They have over 40 years of experience producing complex targets and provide thousands each year to research groups worldwide. Their capabilities include laser microtarget production, laser micromachining, phase plates, MEMS technologies, thin film deposition, microassembly, and cryogenic targetry. They have dedicated cleanrooms and advanced metrology to guarantee target quality.

1. MICROTARGETS FOR HIGH POWER LASER
SYSTEMS

2. INTRODUCTION : SCITECH PRECISION LTD
• Scitech Precision: a spin out from STFC
Innovations
• Access to all of STFC Central Laser
Facility equipment and expertise
• 3 key business areas
• Laser micro targets
• Laser micro machining
• Phase plates
• Building targets for groups all over the
world

3. • High specification targets – complex 3D assemblies
• Hohlraum, cone, polar, shock geometries
• More than one target per shot
• Backlighters/Proton probes
• Specific alignment features and procedures
• Materials challenges (foams, diamond etc.)
• Pre-campaign proof of concept targets for other facilities
• Cryogenic targets
• High repetition rate target production and insertion
• Standard approach to specification planning, and delivery across groups
SCITECH PRECISION SOLUTIONS FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Image: High micron backscattering image

4. SCITECH PRECISION: 40 YEARS OF TARGET PRODUCTION
• Scitech Precision is unique in Europe
• The only company offering a fully commercial service in target production
• 40 years experience in the production of complex high power targets
• Providing thousands of targets every year for groups on site
• And… for the needs of visiting researchers from the EU, USA and Asia
• Scitech has deep in house knowledge and experience in:
• Target design
• Micro engineering
• Laser microprocessing
• MEMS techniques
• Material deposition – PCD/CVD/ALD…
• Low density materials
• Phase plates
• Comprehensive metrology guarantees our target quality
Image: Expanded view of a indirect drive ICF target

5. SCITECH PRECISION LTD – SOME OF OUR CLIENT
COMPANIES

6. P1-1014-CS ELI-NP Target Fabrication Laboratory. Wednesday 29th October 2014. ELI-NP
Micro-assembly
SPECIFIC CAPABILITIES
Low-density materials
MEMS
Characterisation
Research and
Development
Project Planning
Material Deposition –
PVD/CVD/ALD …
Quality Control
Micro-machining
Target Design

7. MICRO-MACHINING
• Ultra precision CNC
• Surface roughness < 1µm
• Batch production of components for high rep rate
experiments
• Diamond point turning for ultra high precision
surfaces
• <50nm Ra
• Periodic structures for gratings etc.
• Bespoke lathes and mills for target development
• Jigs, fixtures, proof of concept
• Wire erosion
• Machining of hard materials, Ta, W etc.
• Complex geometries

8. WET CHEMISTRY AND LOW DENSITY
• Electroplating
• Component productions
• High quality on micro-structures
• Dip Coating
• Target Production <10nm
• Range of materials and geometries
• Etching (Wet)
• Target component production (MEMS)
• Mount and support production
• Low-Density Materials
• CH based foams for HRR
• Aerogels
• Low density metal foams

9. • Wide variety of materials can be processed
• Metals (Stainless Steel, Copper, Brass, Aluminum)
• Silicon, Ceramics, glass, polyimide
• Almost any shape hole can be machined
• Up to 500m thick in most materials (>2mm in some)
• High speed, little debris and small heat affected zone
• Flexibility of CAD-CAM allows rapid prototyping
and small batch manufacturing
• Enables complex mask manufacture for Excimer systems
LASER MICRO-MACHINING
Pyrolytic Carbon Kalrez® (Dupont)
Copper Targets

10. LASER MICRO-MACHINING
Laser Machined Aerogel (115m thick)
Industrial applications
• MEMS prototyping
• Wafer cutting/ scribing/ drilling (Si, Sapphire,
SiN)
• Circuit tuning, scribing and microvia drilling
• Probe card drilling
• Fuel injector drilling
• Solar panel and cell scribing
• Displays thin film scribing
• Aerosol atomizer drilling
• Gas sensor drilling
• Fibre stripping, cleaving & tip
lensing
7um square holes machined in glass 1000’s of holes /second

11. MICRO-ASSEMBLY
• Either manual or semi-
automated assembly for a wide
variation of target designs
• Bespoke jig design for complex
3D targets to ensure high
repeatability and ultra precise
assembly
• Advanced automated assembly
requires a very sophisticated
multi-axis manipulator or
robotic cluster

12. THIN FILM DEPOSITION
• Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD)
• Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD)
• Co-deposits – planetary interior studies
• Thin carbon films – oncology experiments
• Thin metal foils – proton probing of samples
• Complex multilayers – broadband X-Ray
Backlighters
• Co-deposit and complex multilayer capabilities
• 4” wafer coating capabilities for MEMS
processing

13. MEMS - TARGET PRODUCTION
• A dedicated cleanroom complex ~2500 m2
• A complementary range of high precision lithographic
tools
• Mask production, alignment and pattern transfer
• Optical and E-beam lithography
• Thin film deposition equipment
• Etchers (especially deep reactive ion etching)
• High quality characterisation equipment
• AFM
• SEM
• Ellipsometry
• Contact angle measurement

14. • Beam shaping and profiling optics – “top hat” annular etc
• High damage thresholds for high power systems
• Custom plates for different: wavelength, beam diameter and required focal length
• Anti-reflection (AR) coatings to reduce transmission losses, eliminate unwanted, potentially harmful,
back-reflections.
• Coatings for phase plates, plain windows and lenses in two variants:
• Teflon-based technology - vacuum compatible
• Colloidal silica variant - atmospheric use
• Optics maximum - 300 mm in diameter
• Optical coatings - wavelengths from 200 nm to 1900 nm.
PHASE PLATES – PROFILING AND COATING

15. 4th PLAS@PAR Industry Day: Hot Plasmas & Diagnostics. October 21, 2016, Paris
CRYOGENIC TARGETRY
• Designed to provide thin film hydrogen and
deuterium targets
• Target formed in a removable growth chamber
• Mass flow controlled gas delivery system
• Temperature and pressure controlled to allow
transition through gas-liquid-solid phases

16. 4th PLAS@PAR Industry Day: Hot Plasmas & Diagnostics. October 21, 2016, Paris
Micro Injector Robot
• Low density foam targets are used to
study ion acceleration. Here arrays
are used with 36 targets per mount.
• The thickness of the foam is vitally
important and therefore the quantity
of liquid dispensed has to be precise.
This machine saves a lot of time:
• producing 720 targets in 30mins.
• The needle drops until it touches the
mount, creating a closed circuit
alerting the robot that the tip has
touched the mount. The fill
procedure then begins just 50µm
above the mount.

17. CHARACTERISATION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE
• Optical Microscopy
• Scanning Electron
Microscopy
• EDS, BSE, EBSD,
FIB
• Atomic Force
Microscopy
• White Light
Interferometry
• Confocal Microscopy
• Touch Probes
• Co-ordinate
Measuring Machines
• Optical
• Tactile
• X-Ray Diffraction
• X-Ray Fluorescence
• TERS
Co-ordinated Metrology Techniques:

18. • With dedicated cleanrooms we offer
• Laser micro targets, Laser micro machining, Phase plates, MEMS technologies
• High throughput target equipment
• Advanced metrology and characterisation in house to guarantee quality
• Phase plates for beam profiling
• MEMS processing for targets and other applications
• Laser micro machining offered commercially
• Lasers: 1064nm, 355nm, and Excimer
• Scitech Precision also:
• Work collaboratively to develop novel and unique target solutions worldwide
• We also offer Student, and PhD training
IN SUMMARY - EXPERTISE IN MULTIPLE TECHNOLOGIES
Image: Advanced fast ignition cone