Plasma Physics Laboratory

Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPL)
Official logo of the Plasma Physics Laboratory-NIP
Established	late 1980's
Type	Research Laboratory
Coordinator	Dr. Henry J. Ramos
Adjunct Professor	Dr. Roy B. Tumlos
Staff	Dr. Luis Ma. Boot
Address	Plasma Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines System, Diliman, Quezon City, 1101 Philippines
Contact	plasma@nip.upd.edu.ph
Website	[1]

About Us

Plasma technology has become one of the major and important technologies in the development of materials. In the late 1980's, the Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPL) of the National Institute of Physics in University of the Philippines, Diliman was established by Dr. Henry J. Ramos to experiment with and develop modest plasma systems in order to acquire practical knowledge and skills to better employ technologies based on plasma physics. With grants extended by various agencies like the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), the Office of Research Coordination of the University of the Philippines (ORC-UP), the Engineering and Science Education Program of the Department of Science and Technology (ESEP-DOST), the DOST-Grants-in-Aid, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the PPL has built some major plasma devices over the years.

These facilities have undergone modifications and upgrading to serve as demonstration-of-principle devices for specific applications. For example, the PSTNIS facility has been designed as a source of ions for ion implantation applications. It has been utilized as well for the synthesis of nitrides (TiN, ZrN) on metal substrates. On the other hand, the SPNIS facility has also been used for the formation of TiN on metal substrates. Diamond and diamond-like-carbon (DLC) films on silicon have been deposited using the PECVD device. Various studies have been done on these facilities leading to several publications and conference papers.

Research Machines

Plasma Sputter-Type Negative Ion Source (PSTNIS)

A sequence of accelerators and focusing techniques are employed in the extraction of gas/metal ions produced in a sputter-type ion source. Enhancement of ion yield is tried with noble gases as well as with cesium vapors. The extracted and highly focused beam is studied in terms of its transport properties specifically on techniques of increasing acceleration voltage reaching to several keV. The ion current is expected to increase with increasing acceleration voltage. Acceleration voltages in the order of a few keV and a few hundred nanoamperes of ion current are essential in ion beam implantation and etching applications. Ion beam etching is necessary in the preparation of materials for various investigations such as thinning of samples for transmission electron microscopy or for texturing surfaces in the semiconductor industry. High-energy particles (ions or neutral particles) bombard the specimen in the physical process. Ion beam etching has merits over conventional metallographic etching methods specially when etching composite materials or material compounds. The production of highly energetic ions in this study is the first step towards comprehensive etching tests and parameter studies to be done on various materials.

• Sheet Plasma Negative Ion Source (SPNIS)
• Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD)
• Gas Discharge Ion Source (GDIS)
• Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma Device (ECR)
• Streaming Neutral Gas Ion Source (SNGI)

Diagnostic tools and techniques used by the laboratory are the following:

• Spectroscopy
• Langmuir Probe
• Mass Spectroscopy
• E x B Analyzer

Source: http://www.nip.upd.edu.ph/plasma/

See Also

• National Institute of Physics
• UP College of Science