Facilities at
TvU
TvU currently occupies 3,000 square feet of office
and laboratory space with a wide variety of sophisticated experimental
research and development equipment. TvU has invested its company profit
to fund development projects and to acquire a variety of sophisticated
mechanical, optical, electronic, and vacuum equipment, as well as fabrication,
testing and support equipment. An optics lab centers on a Scanning Electron
Microscope, a 15 W CO2 laser, and video image processing
systems. A vacuum processing lab centers on a general purpose high vacuum
station. A cryogenics lab centers on a Koch Helium Liquefier and Janis Supertran Liquid Helium Cryostat
with optical access. Air and vacuum furnaces (to above 2200°C) are used
for material processing experiments, and Transparent Furnaces and associated
hardware permit total optical access to small pieces undergoing heat treatment
at temperatures up 1200°C
Significant TvU facilities include :
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Coating Equipment: Apparatus for vacuum evaporation internal gold
coating of tubes. Two multiported vacuum coating chambers with large diffusion
pumps and high current feedthrus, rated 10-6 torr, one 60 cm ID x 40
High, and one 20 cm ID x 110 cm long. A Consolidated Vacuum Corp CV-18 high
vacuum coater adapted for a variety of coating geometries.
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Coolers: Polycold -50oC baffle chiller.
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Combustion Equipment: Variety of laminar and turbulent burners of
different geometries, Torches, Compressed flammable gases.
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Computers and Peripherals: TvU has PC-based computer resources for laboratory data acquisition and analysis,
and for each of its staff to perform a wide variety of document, mathematical, engineering, and business tasks.
B&W and color printers, DSL internet capability, optical scanning, LAN system, CD and tape backup. A portable
laboratory data acquisition and control system provides standard system AC and DC supply voltages, PLC I/O, analog
and digital PC computer I/O, T/C and Temperature controlled SCR power.
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Cryogenic Systems: Koch 1400 Helium
Liquefier, 2 Koch 1410 He compressors and subcomponents that form a complete
helium liquefication plant, Janis Supertran-VP continuous flow cryostat with a
dual temperature controller that allows optical inspection of samples held at a
temperature adjustable from 1.4 to 325 K. 100 and 500 l LHe, 500 l LN2 dewars,
Standard cryogenic equipment consisting of dewars, vacuum insulated transfer
lines, thermometry, and level detection.
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Data Acquisition Systems : TvU owns Labview development software for
graphical interface development and computer control. Multichannel data
acquisition includes analog, digital, and 16 channels of thermocouple data. A
wide variety of TvU's sensors are directly linked to a dedicated, mobile, DAQ
system that is used for a variety of experiments. PLC systems, and imaging data
acquisition are also in use.
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Electronic Equipment: Tektronix TDS 380 400MHz digital storage
oscilloscope, Tektronix 2213A oscilloscope, Pulse Generator, Frequency
Generator, High Precision Adjustable Power Supplies, High Precision Multimeters,
Low Current Meters, Photoelectric Sensors & Amplifiers, Wide variety of
electronic supplies.
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Electrical Equipment: Wide variety of electrical and electronic supplies,
timers and waveform generators, oscilloscope and multimeter equipment, high
power variacs, Numerous Transformers: 30 kW, 1000 A transformer, High Power 3
Phase Transformers 240 V to 120 VAC, 575 VAC, Variacs of 10, 20, 50 & 75 A
capacities, 240 VAC and 120 VAC SCR Supplies up to 70 A, Variety of high and low
voltage controlled DC power supplies for supplying stable and high currents at
various voltages, Clip-on Ammeters, High Current Shunts, High Voltage Probes.
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Fiber Optics: Wide variety of fibers: sapphire, quartz, glass, plastic, fiber polishing
equipment, fiber test optical mounts, fixturing devices, focussing optics.
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Fluid Sensors, Controls, and Supplies: Standard and miniature electronic pressure sensors,
high and low pressure multiple gas supplies, gauges and fittings, compressed air and
bottled gases. Liquid, gas flowmeters, filters; Hydraulic pumps and fittings.
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Furnace Systems : 2000oC Tungsten 12x20x25 cm hot zone and
2200oC graphite 6x20 cm hot zone Vacuum Furnaces, 1300oC
Tube Air Furnace, 1300oC 50 cm cube Kiln, a 1600oC fiber
treatment furnace, 700oC low power furnace (75 watts), a 250oC
45x35x55 cm oven, plus variety of 1200oC and below furnaces. Oven,
Eurotherm temperature controllers, all types of standard and high temperature (PtRh)
thermocouple monitors. Transparent Furnace Apparatus: Two
temperature-controlled transparent furnaces (a single zone and a 2-zone type)
and associated hardware designed to permit total optical access to small pieces
undergoing heat treatment at temperatures up to 1200oC. These
furnaces contain heat radiation to achieve high operating temperatures by using
an infrared reflecting outer shell.
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Hydraulic Equipment: Hand and motor driven hydraulic pumps to 1 kbar, Hi,
Med, and Lo pressure gauges, tubing and fittings.
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Imaging Equipment: High resolution digital cameras, B/W and color video
cameras, VCR, monitors, video frame grabber/processor, and image processing
software.
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Light Sources: 15W CO2 laser, low power HeNe lasers, arc lamps, compact arc flash lamps,
high power halogen lamps, mercury UV lamp, tungsten filament lamps, fiber optic illuminators.
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Materials and Chemicals: Rare metals, precious metals, polishing materials, sapphire,
quartz, ceramic insulation and glues, specialized chemicals, solvents, flameproof storage,
hazardous chemical handling and storage equipment.
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Materials Inspection, Handling, and Testing Equipment: Jeol JSM-35
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Bausch & Lomb Metallograph, controlled
atmosphere glovebox, hood and vent systems, ultrasonic cleaners, precision
balances.
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Materials Processing Equipment: Boy 15/7 Injection Molding Machine, 20
ton press, 2 Strasbaugh polishing machines with polishing apparatus, Dallan Labs
planetary lapping machine, manual polishing equipment. Precision diamond cutoff
saw, diamond band saw, variety of diamond tooling.
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Mechanical Apparatus: TvU has a complete machine shop, including lathes
and milling machines. It has ceramic machining capabilities including diamond
tools, diamond band saw and large diameter diamond cut-off saw.
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Microwave/RF Equipment: 5 kW RF Sputtering Power Supply and Sensors.
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Optics: optical bench, optical cements, bundles and illuminators, various lenses,
wide variety of sapphire windows, low f-number elliptical and planar electrodeposited mirrors,
variety of wavelength-variable filters, extensive mounting and translation apparatus, gold-coated mirrors.
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Optical Diagnostics: Zoom stereo microscope 7 – 90X, near infrared (NIR)
video camera for thermal imaging, precision radiant power meter, illumination
meter, high speed intensity detector.
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Sample Preparation Equipment: Wide variety of polishing materials, laps, fixtures,
cutting devices and tools for both metals and ceramics.
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Software: ADOBE Acrobat portable document platform, BEAM3 Optics Analysis,
ELECTRONIC WORKBENCH - graphical electronics analysis, IMAGEPRO Image Analysis,
LABVIEW - graphical data analysis and control, MATHCAD mathematical analysis,
NIST Chemical Kinetics Database, OPTIMATR optical constants program,
ProCite Bibliography, SIGMAPLOT plotting package, TFCALC thin film optical analysis,
VISIO drawing program, Microsoft office suite, standard network and internet composer
and browser software
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Vacuum Systems: Multiported, Instrumented Diffusion Pump Vacuum
Stations: one 20 cm ID x 110 cm long, one 60 cm ID x 40 High with automated
controls, 50 cm Bell-Jar Vacuum Station; Residual Gas Analyzer (RGA), multiple
diffusion pumps and mechanical vacuum pumps, LN2 baffles and traps,
ionization, thermocouple, convection gauges, conflat/KF& etc. hardware.
TvU also has available
a wide range of facilities at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), University
of Connecticut (UConn), and Oak
Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL). TvU
is also pursuing research concepts in solid cryogens and low temperature
physics with the Institute of Low Temperature, Kharkov, the Ukraine.
Last update: May 2005