VACUUM COATING LABORATORY!HISTORY!

The vacuum coating laboratory was instituted in the 1980s in the Manila Observatory with the help of outside funding. It was then t ransferred to Faura bui ld ing; however, when the building was constructed, there was no original plan for a vacuum coating laboratory. To create space for the laboratory, the foyer of the building was converted into a room which many people have come to know as the vac lab. !

FUTURE!The vacuum coating laboratory hopes to further expand research topics from applications to theory. Future topics include theoretical plasma and ion beam physics. It also hopes to acquire new machines and more students to conduct research. !

RESEARCH!Current studies ongoing in the vacuum coating laboratory include thin film coatings via thermal evaporation, plasma surface surface modification, atmospheric plasma and low pressure plasma. Thesis produced by students of the laboratory include Ion Beam Deposition of Diamond!Like Carbon on S i l i c o n S l i d e s , Relative Humidity.!

Sensor Using Aluminum Thin Films on Etched Printed Circuit Board, Surface Modification of Poly methyl Methacrylate for Anti-Fog Applications and Optical Properties of Co-evaporated MgF2 and ZnS Films. !