Cerium (Ce) Evaporation Pieces 99.99% 1-10 mm ATOMFAIR®

Cerium is a reactive rare-earth metal that oxidizes rapidly in air, requiring storage under inert atmosphere or vacuum to prevent surface contamination. The material's low melting point (798°C) and high reactivity necessitate careful source selection to avoid alloying with refractory metal boats.

• Oxidation Sensitivity: Exposure to ambient oxygen and moisture will form a surface oxide layer that degrades evaporation purity and film quality.
• Source Compatibility: Use only Ta/W boats, Ta liners, or water-cooled e-beam hearths with liners to prevent molten cerium from wetting or reacting with the source.
• Melting Point Consideration: The low melting point of 798°C requires controlled power ramping to avoid sudden melting and spitting during evaporation.

This procedure describes loading cerium pieces into a compatible evaporation source and performing a controlled thermal evaporation under vacuum. Proper handling and source preparation are critical to achieve consistent film deposition without contamination.

Required Equipment: Inert-atmosphere glovebox or vacuum transfer vessel, Ta/W boat or Ta-lined e-beam hearth, Vacuum deposition system with base pressure below 1e-6 Torr

1. Prepare Source and Material
   Transfer cerium pieces from sealed inert packaging directly into the evaporation source inside an argon-filled glovebox to prevent oxidation.
2. Load Source into Chamber
   Quickly transfer the loaded source to the vacuum chamber and initiate pumpdown to minimize air exposure time to under 5 minutes.
3. Evacuate Chamber
   Evacuate the chamber to a base pressure below 1e-6 Torr to remove residual oxygen and water vapor before heating.
4. Preheat Gradually
   Apply power slowly to the source, ramping over 2-3 minutes to just below the melting point to outgas any adsorbed contaminants.
5. Evaporate at Controlled Rate
   Increase power to achieve a stable evaporation rate of 0.5-2 Å/s, monitoring film thickness with a quartz crystal microbalance.
6. Cool and Vent
   Allow the source to cool completely under vacuum before venting the chamber with dry nitrogen or argon.

Cerium (Ce) evaporation material with 99.99% purity and 1-10 mm pieces is suitable for e-beam or thermal evaporation, requiring careful source matching and process parameter optimization.

Positive

• High purity 99.99%: The 99.99% purity specification ensures consistent film composition and minimizes contamination in thin-film deposition workflows.
• Defined particle size 1-10 mm: The defined 1-10 mm size range supports uniform loading and stable evaporation rates in e-beam and thermal/resistive sources.

Trade-offs

• Source compatibility must be verified: Deposition source geometry and boat/liner material (Ta/W boat, Ta liner, or water-cooled e-beam hearth) must be confirmed before use to avoid material incompatibility or process failure.
• Process parameter tuning required: Melting point (798°C) and Z-ratio (1.00) necessitate precise calibration of evaporation parameters for consistent film thickness and stoichiometry.

Every advanced material, component, equipment, and instrument in our catalog is backed by rigorous testing. We maintain strict internal quality management frameworks and align with CE conformity metrics to deliver transparent, reproducible performance data via our public open-science repository.

To request raw batch performance data, submit formal vendor registration paperwork, or execute a fast-turnaround R&D manufacturing loop, contact us at inquiry@atomfair.com.

Item is dispatched under the Atomfair Shipping & Delivery Framework (Free worldwide shipping on orders over $59 USD excl. heavy equipment). Return is governed by the Atomfair Return & Refund Policy (7-day technical return window).