STUDY OF THE IONIZED CLUSTER BEAM TECHNIQUE

The unique aspect of the ionized cluster beam (ICB) thin film deposition method is that material is deposited in the form of ionized, accelerated clusters, previously reported to average 1000 atoms in size. Minimal surface damage is one of the advantages attributed to ICB. This could be expected to result in sharp film-substrate interfaces which are relatively insensitive to accelerating voltage. A large number of different material films have been deposited to research the ICB method, however, cluster measurements have been few. In the studies reported here, direct cluster measurements were performed using gold. In addition the interfaces between A12O3 and MgF2 films and silicon substrates were investigated. Films were deposited both at the facilities of the Ion Beam Engineering Laboratory in Kyoto, Japan and at the University of Miami. Direct cluster measurements using energy analyzed gold demonstrated an average cluster size which is weakly dependent upon crucible temperature. To date, beams with average cluster sizes up to 2.5 atoms per cluster have been formed. Results on A12O3 and MgF2 films indicate that the film-substrate interface is markedly influenced by increasing accelerating voltage. © 1990, American Vacuum Society. All rights reserved.