I just skimmed, but I don't see anything novel here (which just might mean the paper is poorly written and they didn't highlight it). But I've used a microwave for the applications they've suggested (which are really all the same application...). I used to do this when I was trying to clean materials that I was sputtering onto (which can also be cheaply built in-house for a few hundred dollars but for something that works pretty well you'll probably spend closer to ~$1k. I have cad files somewhere).

But I think a lot of HN users have stepped foot in a physics lab (not a class, but where the grad students do their experiments) and have seen all the hacked together equipment and home made variants because no one can afford a $10k machine.