Versatile UHV compatible Knudsen type effusion cell

A versatile Knudsen type effusion cell has been fabricated for growing nanostructures and epitaxial layers of metals and semiconductors. The cell provides excellent vacuum compatibility (10−10 mbar range during operation), efficient water cooling, uniform heating, and moderate input power consumption (100 W at 1000 °C). The thermal properties of the cell have been determined. The performance of the cell has been assessed by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) for Mn adlayer growth on Al(111). We find that this Knudsen cell has a stable deposition rate of 0.17 monolayer per minute at 550 °C. From the XPS spectra, we show that the Mn adlayers are completely clean, i.e., devoid of any surface contamination.