Making My First Successful Film

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Dennis P Brown
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by Dennis P Brown »

Acetone works very well with removing metal coatings from glass and even off of some metals like steel; do wear proper gloves and do it outside. While acetone isn't very toxic, it is best to minimize exposure. Do wear proper eye protective googles.
ian_krase
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by ian_krase »

Interesting and not intuitive. How does it do that?
John Futter
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by John Futter »

A proper sputtered film will not rub off with acetone or pull off with the scotch tape test
evaporated films may come off with either methods as mentioned above.
I clean our sputter system viewports @ work with aqua regia and if its being a bit slow i'll add some hydrogen peroxide to jazz it up
SEM techs use KOH solution to clean the apertures from tungsten deposits
ian_krase
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by ian_krase »

And the KOH does not destroy the glass? Or etches it very slowly, while stripping tungsten quickly? What were you stripping with aqua regia?
John Futter
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by John Futter »

aqua regia strip for Ag, Au, Mg, Ca, Bi alloys various, ZnO As, Cu, Ti, Al,W, WO, Sb and Sb alloys, Fe, Ni, Te, Zr, Gd, Sc, Pb, S, C, B, BN, ITO,Co, Dy, Si, SiO, TiN,Na,K,, and a few more I cannot remember at the mo.
usually there are several differing layers on the pyrex viewports
KOH will not attack glass in the short term.
For layers that are highly resistant to the aqua regia I drop a couple of mls of 70% HF on top but you have to be carful as this does etch the viewport and you must neutralize the acid before removing from the solution otherwise the viewport will go opaque (Frost)
ian_krase
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by ian_krase »

OK, interesting. Thank you. I guess I need some acid.

Silver films must come out as silver chloride particles, I assume.

Do you have any advice on how to handle this stuff on a small scale without needing immersion?
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

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Do realize HF (hydrofluoric acid) is an extremely powerful neurotoxin and at 70% or higher concentrations does not cause pain if it touches skin; it is bone seeking and a long-term chronic poison in such cases. It is very dangerous to breathe. Use only with proper equipment.

Mixing peroxide with acid has to be done carefully and the mix will heat up a great deal (depending on concentration, of course.) If you do that, do be careful and realize that the mix could splatter on its own; don't mix HF and peroxide except if using a vented hood and proper safety gear and after reading/learning proper use/safety first. HF is not a strong acid but extremely toxic to living creatures (so disposal is an issue.)

If you decide to get HF, here is a good paper on its dangers: https://web.utk.edu/~ehss/training/has.pdf
ian_krase
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by ian_krase »

I've used HF before, but that was in a very well equipped university lab. Not going to do it with my current capabilities. It's just impossible. Maybe some of the fluoride-ion-containing consumer market glass etchants?
Roberto Ferrari
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by Roberto Ferrari »

Hi
Tungsten deposits cleans well with molten sodium nitrite (NaNO2).
You can heat gently the other side of the window and place a few grains of the salt, that will melt easily. After the attack salts must be cleaned with warm water.
In case of windows in a metal-to-glass seal, heating can be risky. I would suggest to melt the sodium nitrite in a crucible and pick up a small quantity still molten and to rub the W deposit.
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by Dennis P Brown »

fluoride-ion-containing consumer market glass etchants?
I believe (and anyone with knowledge, please weigh in) these are just more dilute HF solutions;which still poses a similar risk. If you decide to try one, read ALL the safety data they provide, use proper chemical googles, acid resistant gloves, and work in a well ventilated area; as a OSHA warning stated - if you think you have smelled HF, you haven't! And I am sorry to say, I know from personal experience that statement is 100% accurate ... .
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by John Futter »

you could also use stainless steel weld pickle gel
this is a mix of nitric and HF acids in a convienient gel form
HF 10 - 30 % nitric around 40%
all welding supply places carry this
also very important for cleaning vacuum hardware after welding
ian_krase
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by ian_krase »

The consumer glass etchants contain a fluoride salt, not true acid.

Yeah, I'm probably staying away from the F.
ian_krase
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by ian_krase »

Quick image of a control box for the cheap Spellman supply ("Christmas Comes Early").

Two pots for voltage and current, one gauge (change between V and I with a switch), and a power switch with a missile cover in lieu of a Big Red Button. Most of the parts for this came from Halted.



(Why are electronic project enclosures so expensive almost everywhere?)
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by Dennis P Brown »

As for cost of those boxes - they are up their but most are well made so I expect it.

One reason I bought a useless (for fusion) large power supply (30 kV, 250 ma but positive!) was I got it for the cabinet and internal parts (meters, filtering system and cables.) The unit was cheap and so well worth the cost for just its components and large shielded case. A good idea to keep in mind when searching ebay; also, I was lucky - the company selling it was within a 100 miles so no shipping costs; otherwise, might not have been such a deal (but boy, was that thing heavy!)
ian_krase
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by ian_krase »

Yeah, similarly I bought a spot welder (?) For a few dollars to House my variac, and got a high current xformer in the bargain.
ian_krase
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Re: Making My First Successful Film

Post by ian_krase »

Not really much to see here, just parts for the future Modular Omni-purpose Ion Source (Thermionic).
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