Heating stage for in situ studies of thin-film reactions

We describe a method for measuring and controlling the temperature of thin ceramic plates which are used as substrates for the deposition of thin films in high vacuum. The ceramic plates have an embedded platinum resistor which acts as both heating element and thermometer. The temperature of the substrate is controlled by an electronic feedback circuit. This arrangement enables accurate measurements of the thin-film temperature. In addition, the system has a fast response time and excellent long-term temperature stability. We describe an application where the temperature control system is combined with ac resistance measurements to study the kinetics of a solid-state interdiffusion reaction in Ni-Zr multilayers.