The system which comprises two Vacuum Generators V80H Growth chambers ('A chamber' and 'C chamber' ) attached by ultra high vacuum (UHV) transfer tubes to a high resolution focussed ion beam system, a Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM) and a surface decontamination and etching system.

This system is used largely for the fabrication of three dimensionally patterned semiconductor structures by two different techniques.

The first technique used involves the growth of a thin highly n doped layer of GaAs on an insulating substrate, the wafer is then transferred in-vacuo to the focussed ion beam (FIB) implanter where it is patterned, the layer becoming highly resistive in implanted areas and the remaining areas form a conducting back-gate to the remainder of the structure. The patterned substrate is then returned to the the growth chamber for growth of further GaAs/AlGaAs layers generally forming one or more two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs). This technique has been primarily used to allow the formation of separate contacts to closely spaced conducting layers, although the sub-micron resolution of the FIB allows the definition of mesoscopic structures using the back-gate.

The second fabrication technique technique revolves around regrowth on patterned substrates. Here a series of layers are grown on the substrate which is then removed from the MBE system and patterned using conventional optical lithography. This patterning involves etching the epilayers so as to expose the different grown layers. The sample is then returned to the MBE system where it enters the decontamination system and is cleaned using hydrogen radicals. The surface is characterised during this process using SIMS. After cleaning the sample is returned oit he growth chamber for further growth processes. Using this technique it is possible to use the ultra high resolution of the MBE growth process to confine electrons laterally forming for example quantum wires.

The Scanning tunnelling microscope is used for the characterisation of surfaces after growth, recent work has revealed the surface structure of GaSb and how it changes with epilayer growth temperature, as well as the investigation of the growth conditions required for the formation of self-organised InAs dots.