How to evaporate a metal

CORRECTIONS:
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Welcome to Episode Two of my series about molecular beam epitaxy! In this video, I'm talking about the best way to shoot a beam of atoms at something… As much as that sounds like a crazy scifi weapon, it's actually a great technique for delivering material to a growing crystalline thin film. All materials, even solids, have a vapor pressure and are slowly evaporating. When you put a chunk of material in a vacuum chamber and get it hot, it can evaporate so fast the vapor can be directed towards a target! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about the MBE I could address in future videos!
Check out the other social media for updates and ramblings:
/ alphaphoenixchannel
/ alpha__phoenix
#Crystals #Materials #Engineering
The MBE Lab is part of the Materials Department at UCSB. Filmed with permission.
Music in this video:
I Dunno by grapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
ccmixter.org/fi...
Till With Bell.wav from Benboncan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license
Phase diagram of water.svg from Wikimedia Commons by Cmglee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license
Hermes Conrad - Character from Futurama, Matt Groening

[@Arcanefungus]

"Do you need me to do anything?" "Yes, but I dont know what." Felt that ngl😂

[@michaelryan5973]

Dude I’d be freaking out in his position. It’s like a game of super operation

[@toastedbutter9760]

XD that’s so awesome

[@NOMAD-qp3dd]

Yea considering how expensive those materials were, gah.

[@JoeyP946]

that made me laugh haha

[@Vnifit]

This is awesome, science doesn't get much more raw than this! Not often you get a look into things like this.

[@georgeorwell8501]

Love his obvious enthusiasm for all things science. The nerd force is strong in this one.

[@aperson1]

hi, i'm that annoying youtube comments guy here to be pedantic: technically this is engineering, not science. Engineering is when you're messing around knowing what you're doing, and science is messing around not knowing what you're doing.

[@Vnifit]

@@aperson1 Lmao that's the stupidest shit I've ever heard hahahaha

[@speedysfriend6974]

@@aperson1 kinda. He's a laboratory technician, which means he uses both engineering and science to maintain, troubleshoot, and resolve issues regarding equipment in the laboratory.

[@webby2275]

@@aperson1 Science is very often simply confirming something. Which means you have to know what you're doing already.

[@Pants4096]

We live in a truly unjust universe if it's true that only a few hundred people have viewed these videos. I heartily thank Steve Mould for mentioning you. I'm now three videos in to your library and have seventy more to watch, because it sure looks like everything you've produced is MUST SEE amazing science.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

oh man don't go too far back, the ones from undergrad get real kludgey...

[@ahmedshinwari]

Same reason for me being here. Steve Mould is not a selfish crook person.

[@devilliar3786]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel Hey, think you could get me a job over at this place? This is awesome.

[@Nobe_Oddy]

yea me too lol Steve Mould pointed me to this AMAZING KNOWLEDGE and it really is a shame that more people aren't opening their mind to the cutting edge of human knowledge (well.... some vids are, but ALL are entertainingly smart - which I LOVE!!) THANK YOU!!

[@gabeshaw3721]

It’s up to like 30k. These vids are amazing

[@azimalif266]

I'm three videos in. This channel is way too underrated.

[@ri-gor]

I love that the way we produce things like doped semiconductors is essentially the same way that they (probably) make LaCroix; Silicon that was in the same room as a hot piece of Gallium vs carbonated water that was in the same room as a raspberry.

[@simonhaugenkolstad8561]

Your level of explenation cant be defined almost its just so perfect for getting people with no knowledge about a subject to understand. Keep up the amazing work, you earned yourself a subscriber

[@lawrencewild2523]

I am much enjoying your series on your equipment. My father built similar equipment for Westinghouse several years ago to facilitate precision electron beam welding equipment and vapor deposition equipment for precision coating. They were test systems to provide proof of concept equipment and develop the technology to where it could be marketable. The vacuum pumps he used were very impressive to my teenage self. The system was housed in a small cylinder, inside a booth the size of a small room to provide a two stage vacuum tight sealable enclosure, as the working surface had to be somewhat larger than those you are dealing with. There were,as I recall, three stages of vacuum pumps working on different principals to obtain the required levels of vacuum. On the other hand I suspect his allowed target area might have been somewhat larger than that you work with and the precision you deal with may require another order of magnitude of vacuum than Dad's system did. Dad built all manner of things as prototypes for Westinghouse. Engineers came in with fancy designs and schematics and Dad helped them to scale there sometimes unwieldy plans into something that might actually be capable of being built. Your lecture on how your equipment works is "deja vu all over again" to quote Yogi Berra.

[@michaelknight2342]

Your channel is the definition of underrated

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Haha thanks! Any clue how I get rated? Lol.

[@taha6939]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel Your content is really good. Get friends with other popular science channels like smarter everyday and they probably would love to boost you.

[@fredsnicker]

Seriously, how does he not have a million+ subs?

[@bassmunk]

Now that we know WHY it has to work like that, I wanna know WHAT those coatings are used for...

[@darthandeddeu]

As with most tech, probably military and or sex. ( Joking of course)

[@pangurechyx3010]

mukherjee.sites.stanford.edu/ He showed "Mukherjee Group" in the video, it looks like they study semiconductors and the effects of imperfections in their crystal structures. So I would assume it's important to be able to grow a flawless crystal as reference when studying imperfections, as well as to be able to precisely cause imperfections in the structure.

[@amplituhedron5582]

Check Balzers, there are many many applications, low friction, surface hardening... I don't know what he uses PbSe for.

[@someoneelse7629]

The Gallium arsenide is probably for a really good semiconductor, but I would guess you could coat almost anything with anything to make anything here... Yeah, I'm not a rocket-surgeon...

[@noalear]

I work for a photon detector company. We make PbSe IR detectors. They're good for sensing ~1-5µm wavelength. We put the material on a substrate, cast a few spells (trade secret, sorry), and viola. Cool them down (we use TECs) and they can detect IR extremely well.

[@Lukesab3r]

This has literally blown my mind. Always wondering how these processes were undertaken and never knowing **fully** the actual method, you've opened doors in my mind like the day when I first learned how transistors work. Thank you for this video, your time, and looking forward to more mind blowing insights into how we accomplish the very small and precise.

[@JustcallmeJayrot]

Holy cow. Just found this channel from Steve Mould's shoutout in his recent video. I'm loving the mix of hard sci (with wonderful, layman's explanations) and the other projects and stuff (photography). Way to go, keep it up! I remember stumbling upon a random channel called "Cody's Lab" many many years ago. Just a kinda quirky guy with a couple thousand subscribers. Was cool to see his channel grow and grow (but not change all that much). He's now got almost 2 million subscribers and hundreds of thousands of people watch every video he makes. It's obvious that you aren't in the mindset of "chasing views" and you clearly make videos about things you're just simply interested in. I'm sure you don't need my encouragement to keep going, but your content is so authentic and interesting, don't be surprised if one day you wake up and find that your channel has blown up. There's no substitute for authenticity. Or, put another way, "real recognize real". Anyway just wanted to say hello and say thanks. --J

[@lucienreyes9]

Your channel is unironically and literally the coolest thing I've experienced all year

[@Bolt6265]

These videos are really cool. I love learning about this kind of very niche high tech research equipment. And not to be the first to say it but this channel is definitely underrated. Also, as a programmer, a particular thing that fascinates me is the software that controls all this stuff. Specialized single purpose programs that have to integrate with this the crazy equipment is wild, but maybe I'm just a big nerd for weird things. It's just such an enigma.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Yeah the scripting capability with a system like this is awesome - I think I rely on it more than most growers at UCSB (which occasionally has come back to bite me). The control system we use has lots of closed-loop temperature controls (actually bakes into the hardware), but I've also written a very large pile of pascal-esque CrystalXE that does stuff like control temperatures and shutters throughout growths to create certain semiconductor structures automatically.

[@WashingtonFernandes]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel sick

[@willmcconnell6008]

These MBE videos are really interesting, I've tried asking my professors about MBEs, but only one was familiar with it and only from reading. Really neat piece of equipment

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Great! Glad you like them! What do you study?

[@willmcconnell6008]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel I'm an undergrad in Biochemistry and Biotechnology. But I've always found the engineering in lab equipment is just as interesting as what's studied with them.

[@izarscharf7845]

@@willmcconnell6008 Same here, other fields are just so enticing aswell and a complimenting understanging of engineering and physics would be so cool ! I wish i had the time to take more physics and engineering lectures !

[@jerrysanchez5453]

I've never heard of this side of science.its fascinating

[@noalear]

Vacuum engineering is super weird and intense. You can use like 0.1% of the available materials in UHV. You've got cold welding threatening to stop everything and basically everything is sitting there sublimating/evaporating so you've gotta be careful with all your lube, plastics, adhesives, cleaners, and cleaning materials. You no longer get to use gas pressure to hold or move anything since you're in a vacuum already (no suction or blowing), and you have to use vented screws so you don't make virtual leaks inside the chamber itself. Usually the beams are controlled or steered with magnetic fields, so you can't use magnets or ferromagnetic materials either.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

The sample spins with a magnetic feedthroughs and at one point after service I think we either didn’t replace the mu metal covering or it was loose (I thought it was just stainless) and then we couldn’t figure out why the rheed electron beam was going everywhere - unshielded magnets…

[@matthewreynolds8068]

I'm so honored to be in on the underground science KZbin community. That being said I am sharing this with everyone I know that loves science! What a wonderful time to be alive!

[@irfanniazi6112]

Flipping heck! I found a nerdy physist that I can look up to. This guys terminology is way out of my limits. I will be following your future projects very closely to learn something new from you.

[@SZ-ZS-]

one of my favorite new channels i've found, reminds me of codylabs back when he started. subbed

[@thomaslapointe8666]

This is the best depiction of MBE I have ever watched!

[@klamerco]

What the hell?! I understood everything this guy said

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

haha I'm glad! that's the goal!

[@tim43s56]

I'm part of the new wave of subscribers, but I'm so glad that you seem to be blowing up as of late. This is an absolutely amazing channel.

[@hololightful]

I've watched a decent amount of your videos, and am subscribed, but usually they are just on one off projects or experiments. These videos on your day job are crazy interesting. Great video!

[@bertilsherman]

Wow! So happy I found this channel. Thank you for taking the time to explain so carefully. Must have taken a lot of time. Please keep it up!

[@mikewalsh3789]

I can’t even believe how much I can learn in 10 minutes. Really interesting stuff and really well presented!

[@vipture.]

Working with RF Sputter deposition at my job, it's always fascinating to me to learn about different methods of depositing metals.

[@aronseptianto8142]

this really gave me an appreciation of material engineering what I imagined is just chucking random metal into a crucible and testing it until you find the perfect blend

[@Wimachtendink]

this is the most interesting thing I've seen on this channel yet, and I've really liked most of it already!

[@kylepaxton431]

It is not fair just how at ease with life this guy is

[@andersmoore]

This is some of the most interesting stuff I have ever seen.

[@michaelwerkov3438]

i would love to see more of these... like, one in a quantum mechanics experiment. we lay people just see these masses of metal and wire... this video made these materials and machines so much more understandable and down to earth. a walk through of a quantum mechanics experiment i think could do a lot for making the "ultra high tech" appear more normal, less intimidating, down to earth

[@Virsconte]

Really neat! I did an internship that involved PLD and it was a pretty wild time getting up to speed. I think by the time I was done, I was just barely starting to understand what was going on. Wish I could have kept going, but my area of study was actually completely unrelated. Don't know why the algorithm recommended this channel *now* but I'm glad it did.

[@juanpedrolardet2088]

As an electronics technitian i find this awesome. Thank you so much for this much detail during the explanation.

[@C134B]

Interesting content, idk why youtube is recommending this now. I've watched applied science and other science youtubers for a few years now and this channel is only revealed now

[@OddLlama]

Incredibly fascinating! Keep doing what you do!

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Ive got another video planned with the MBE about achieving a perfect vacuum, but the system moved to Stanford and now there’s covid. I might make it using “archival” footage instead

[@sssilky3317]

the amount of technology that goes into this stuff is absolutely unbelievable. it's no surprise that it took us 12000 years to reach this level.

[@msmith2961]

I still have absolutely no idea what you do with the thing after you've made it, but the process is fascinating!

[@JeSuisNerd]

I don't know if you've mentioned the company or university you're working at, but it's very cool of them to allow this sort of filming in what looks to be a many-million-dollar lab!

[@jprue577]

So glad I found your channel! This is best use case for KZbin imo

[@nofilter2091]

very interesting video. I once applied for a job where this procedure was used, it was for layering a protective coating on custom-ground eyeglasses for a very well-known manufacturer. The machine was similar where there was a substrate that was incinerated in a vacuum and the vaporized material would evenly deposit onto the glass.

[@zeke7100]

I knew atoms were tiny and all, but to say that 30 million is coming off a screw like that really sheds light on how they are much much much much smaller than one may think.

[@hussoe4321]

lots of info, superb and joyful explanation without getting bored with such heavy content

[@Tristoo]

Incredible. I wish I knew physics more. Not one of my priorities to learn it atm but I wish it was as intuitive to me as it probably is to you. I probably got recommended this due to looking into PCB manufacturing stuff, and honestly deposition as a topic really fascinates me in all the forms it takes. Thank you for the video!

[@mastershooter64]

this channel is amazing!

[@sean101101101]

Excellently described, very interesting, thank you

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Thanks Sean!

[@CarlosHughes-y1i]

I got to see a more up to date version of the mbe at argonne labs just this month. Amazing experience

[@skivvy3565]

Excellent presentation as always buddy. Keep it up

[@TheCrazeTaker]

Cant wait for you to be the next addition to the Rober, SmarterEveryday, Backyard Scientist, etc crew. Your going to go far on this platform keep up the good work!

[@jacobbranker159]

I walked through an MBE lab a few years ago and seeing the massive vacuum vessels blew my mind! Thank you for such an awesome & detailed breakdown of what is going on. Such fascinating science & Truly amazing machines. Thanks again

[@cembora4849]

wow man you definetly deserve more views. WTF youtube algorithm, you shoud recommend this channel to everybody.

[@aryankashyap8393]

Your videos are very very informative, very high quality and everythings so modern and cutting edge. I really like this one. Keep up the good work!! Young and energetic personality inspires up well too much!

[@christopherleubner6633]

Remember babysitting a MBE machine at Boston Lasers. The machine had a malfunction and got a couple extra shots of trimethyl aluminum and we rolled with it. Made orange 604nm lasers instead of red 633nm ❤

[@LucaSmallRaven]

2 questions: 1: how do you avoid accumulating material that radiates from the vacuum chamber itself? For example, if the chamber is steel would you get Iron impurities in your crystal that you are growing? 2: what causes the atoms to eject with force from the evaporating sample? And what speed do these atoms travel at when ejected? Are they just randomly bouncing around until they impact the substrate or are they actually fired in a beam like you described? P.S. great video btw! I love your content. Especially things like this where you have access to equipment that most others don’t and can explain it.

[@KOWspazed]

Another Steve Mould convert here. Loving the channel. I have two questions from this video. 1. How do your shutters work without losing the vacuum? Are they magnetically controlled? Looked very mechanical at 9:18 2. Are you able to ignore the evaporation of the pressure vessel itself because it isn't a focused beam from a heateed source? It seems to be a few orders of magnitude bigger than your bolt head.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

The shutters don’t create a seal, they just block the straight-line flux from the cells. They’re actually controlled through stainless steel accordions that can move without breaking UHV. The chamber is made of stainless steel and is mostly held at liquid nitrogen temperatures near the growing sample - its vapor pressure is REALLY low. I chose a zinc-plated bolt as an example up front because it was dramatic. I did the math for a piece of steel to see if I could use that as an example and I think even at room temperature the equilibrium was like one vaporized Fe atom in the entire city of Goleta...

[@suryanshtagore7180]

i wish there were more people like you🙏...especially in biotechnology

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Unfortunately I can’t help there - I’m not up on my organic chem / bio research

[@ericvater2004]

Your videos are truly amazing and they make me consider switching from ChemE to Mats.

[@gtaocinematics]

This channel will have 1 million subs at the end of the year

[@angst_]

This is neat and It just reminded me that "Molecular Beam Enigma" was the name of my electronic music album in middle school. idk why.

[@JoeySonal]

You're so good at explaining.

[@Kyrazlan]

Man... this is fascinating. I need to get into this career field...

[@workofheartllc]

Very well explained! This is how some DEW work

[@Dysiode]

Watching you refill that crucible made me more tense than watching the crewed Dragon launches!

[@pavanatanaya]

I used to operate vacuum deposition evaporators. E beam guns under vacuum are fun to play with, but sputtering is fun to watch. The particles tend to stick to the coldest surface. So, hot chamber but colder substrate...we were coating photo reactive optics.

[@rogergregory5981]

It's just like going back to apprenticeship/college we still had to learn the ins and outs of just about every electronic valve in use

[@4hodmt]

This reminds me of the short story "Uncommon Sense" by Hal Clement, about life on a hot airless planet.

[@VÍCTORDORANTESPAULÍN]

Damn bro u just saved my tomorrow's presentation, nice video!

[@shiftyjesusfish]

2:00 That is a top notch over simplification. 11/10

[@ChurchOfThought]

Pretty awesome insider look into a vacuum deposition chamber. Thanks AP!,💆

[@Bmotiontech]

Wow Wow. MBE epitaxy. Thanks for your explanation.

[@harry2928]

Thank you sir for the highly interesting and weirdly gratifying procedural commentary. Vacuums are virtually tasty, despite the 0 yoctograms of flavoring.

[@murdo601]

I love this series please continue it!!

[@bowieinc]

Great explanation. Maybe you covered this in other videos, but what is the purpose of growing the different alloys? Creating new ones, testing their properties? What’s the end game? Thanks for explaining so someone like me can understand!

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

I don’t have a fantastic description up yet. There’s a conference talk I have a few years back that explains some. I’ll be posting a video of my defense soon and that will really answer everything!

[@Emulation_Inflation]

Dang your videos 📹 are so cool. You explain things really well.

[@jurrell4]

here because of the almighty algorithm, just subbed because I like your videos

[@kylebutler682]

So you have to have steady hands to do this job. somehow thought it would be more controlled. Very interesting and cool!

[@CaskStrength777]

This was understandable and fascinating

[@frederichackel5855]

It's almost unbelievable what we are able to do. I love science!

[@waynewilliamson4212]

like others below have mentioned, this is really cool...keep these videos coming...

[@waynewilliamson4212]

you know what really sucks is there is pretty much nobody I know that would appreciate this kind of delve into how/why things are like they are.

[@Rundark-]

Had to subscribe and hit the bell, after the first video. I'm two in now, I was draw to this one because anything you can turn to vapor, that vapor is ignitable. You are actually working on an alternative fuel source as well as conducting your experiments. If you were able to find a way to cost effectively vaporize the fuel in cars it would eliminate the hydrocarbon emissions. I did so by making a small hydrogen generator to run on the 12v system. By attaching a hydrogen molecule to the air fuel mixture I was able to achieve 100% combustion. Unfortunately the O2 sensors would sense nothing and tell the computer to add more fuel eliminating any fuel savings. I was able to install this on an older carb system that worked great, but the hydro system got to hot with the 12v power and would need to be stepped down to 5v. Not accessible on older vehicles and I have since had to move on to other things. I have wanted to revisit the project though .

[@ziyanyang9777]

Damn, sounds very complicated yet interesting.

[@KyleThompsonW]

This was awesome. Thanks for sharing!

[@tUbocU90]

2:46 I don't know what to say about this. The example is point on no doubt. But to see it happening just feels so wrong and yet so satisfying for me at the same time.

[@DarkMetaOFFICIAL]

the intro alone has evaporated 20,000,000 atoms of my brain matter

[@JasonCummer]

Love these videos. This is such a cool topic

[@gcr100]

This is a ridiculosly good explanation of the topic, amazing

[@LincolnChamberlin]

I liked this, would like to see more about your work if you get the chance

[@acct5910]

somehow just discovered this channel. subscribed.

[@sbwew]

Pretty cool. Great explanation.

[@iindium49]

I was waiting for the negatively charged plate positively charged emitter part . I never thought "just heat" would do it. Probably a more even distribution without being charged.

[@eugenew2]

This could be a good stepping stone to demonstrate how vacuum tubes work. Then how semiconductor doping works.

[@petergriffin1141]

this was simply awesome !! loved it loved it loved it !!!!!!!!!!

[@irober02]

Lots of questions: Do you need to cool the target? What stops the material coating the walls of the vacuum vessel? How do those pressure gauges work?

[@JasonMasque13]

I’m barely keeping up. Good science. Lots of new terms to look up.

[@morainaxel8499]

Thank so much you for making this type of content, if it wasn't for you I don't know how else would I be able to learn or just know about that !!! =)

[@guller7795]

Awesome video, nice animations and easy to understand explanations! Thank you!

[@osirismpg7393]

Finally, this isgreat insight! Thank you:)

[@BRUXXUS]

Oh man.... in another universe I definitely became a materials scientist. I've always found it super interesting with a lot of room for creativity, fun experimentation and research that can have profound implications on the lives of everyone. I do have a question, though. How do you prevent atoms from other metals and materials in the chamber from landing on the target? You opened with the fun fact about the zinc evaporating from that bolt.... I would expect that to be happening at an even higher rate from all the surfaces in the vacuum chamber.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Ooooh boy that’s a good question - the chamber is at 10e-10 torr, that basically means nothing’s flying around. In order to get that low, you need to build the system out of low-vapor pressure materials. Regular oil and rubber gaskets, for example, would evaporate away and full your growths with carbon.

[@polilya3862]

Thank you, that's really interesting information I am a biomedical engineer, unfortunately, we don't use such cool methods

[@ryukisai99]

Fascinating! Thank you!

[@InfiniteDaoOfLife137]

Well I found it interesting enough to add it to my interesting video playlist on KZbin

[@Name-js5uq]

Very very cool I understood pretty much most all of it