Versatile piezoelectric pulsed molecular beam source for gaseous compounds and organic molecules with femtomole accuracy for UHV and surface science applications

Alexander Schiesser; Rolf Schäfer

doi:10.1063/1.3202290

Versatile piezoelectric pulsed molecular beam source for gaseous compounds and organic molecules with femtomole accuracy for UHV and surface science applications

Rev Sci Instrum. 2009 Aug;80(8):086103. doi: 10.1063/1.3202290.

Authors

Alexander Schiesser¹, Rolf Schäfer

Affiliation

¹ Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Petersenstrasse 20, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany. schiesser@cluster.pc.chemie.tu-darmstadt.de

PMID: 19725687
DOI: 10.1063/1.3202290

Abstract

This note describes the construction of a piezoelectric pulsed molecular beam source based upon a design presented in an earlier work [D. Proch and T. Trickl, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 60, 713 (1988)]. The design features significant modifications that permit the determination of the number of molecules in a beam pulse with an accuracy of 1x10(11) molecules per pulse. The 21 cm long plunger-nozzle setup allows the molecules to be brought to any point of the UHV chamber with very high intensity. Furthermore, besides typical gaseous compounds, also smaller organic molecules with a vapor pressure higher than 0.1 mbar at room temperature may serve as feed material. This makes the new design suitable for various applications in chemical and surface science studies.