The Laboratory of Vacuum Ultraviolet (LUV) is a technical facility provided with a softwalls cleanroom equipped with HEPA filters to perform experimentation under controlled conditions of cleanness (ISO7).
This premise was originally created in the frame of the participation of the group AEGORA in the 2m- space telescope WSO-UV. An instrument for qualifying the performance of optical elements such as filters and prisms in the ultraviolet range of wavelengths has been specifically designed and conceived. It consists of a modular vacuum chamber with a deuterium lamp mounted, able to emit between 112 and 400 nm. The qualifying tests can be carried out under high levels of vacuum (10-5 mbar) as the optical system is equipped with two pumps, a scroll and a turbomolecular pumps. In addition, a photon-counting Microchannel Plate (MCP) detector is installed in the optical chamber to record images and video in the ultraviolet region for the evaluation of the optical items.
As a consequence of the diversification of the research interests of the group, an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) has been installed. This instrument is used to study the effect of ultraviolet light on the surface of a variety of materials at a nanometric level.
Figure 1: Interior view of the instrument to characterise optical elements.
Figure 2: Atomic Force Microscope installed at LUV.
Figure 3: Example of a spectrum obtained with a prism.
Figure 4: Example of a measurement performed with the AFM.