SPUTTERING WITH GAS CLUSTER-ION BEAMS

1996 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. 1017-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. MATSUO ◽  
M. AKIZUKI ◽  
J. NORTHBY ◽  
G.H. TAKAOKA ◽  
I. YAMADA

A high-current (~100 nA) cluster-ion-beam equipment with a new mass filter has been developed to study the energetic cluster-bombardment effects on solid surfaces. A dramatic reduction of Cu concentration on silicon surfaces has been achieved by 20-keV Ar cluster (N~3000) ion bombardment. The removal rate of Cu with cluster ions is two orders of magnitude higher than that with monomer ions. A significantly higher sputtering yield is expected for cluster-ion irradiation. An energetic cluster-ion beam is quite suitable for removal of metal.

1999 ◽  
Vol 585 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Fathy ◽  
O. W. Holland ◽  
R. Liu ◽  
J. Wosik ◽  
W. K Chu

AbstractOptimization of the surface topography, especially in high-temperature superconductors (HTS) and silicon carbide is crucial for device processing. Surface smoothing in these materials was investigated using Gas Cluster Ion Beams (GCIB) capable of delivering cluster ions of ≥ 2000 Ar atoms with energies of up to 30keV. Examination of the surface topography after cluster-ion irradiation was done using cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results indicate that typical as-deposited YBCO films on MgO substrates have an average roughness of the order of 40 nm, and interpeak distance between 300–600 nm. Application of GCIB to the surface planarization reduces the roughness to only 10 nm. Also power handling and microwave surface resistance of the YBCO film and its relationship to surface smoothness are reported. Similar observations using bulk SiC are discussed.


2003 ◽  
Vol 792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio Seki ◽  
Jiro Matsuo

ABSTRACTCluster ion beam processes can produce high rate sputtering with low damage in comparison with monomer ion beam processes. Especially, it is expected that extreme high rate sputtering can be obtained using reactive cluster ion beams. High current SF6 cluster ion beams were recently obtained with new modifications in the basic cluster ion beam technique. The cluster size distribution was measured with Time-of-Flight (TOF) method and the mean size of cluster was about 500 molecules. Si substrates were irradiated with SF6 cluster ions at the acceleration energy of 5–45 keV. Sputtering yield with SF6 cluster ions was increased with acceleration energy and was about 2300 atoms/ion at 45 keV. The sputtering yield was about 1000 times higher than that of Ar monomer ions and was also higher than that of Ar cluster ions. It was found that reactive sputtering occurred with SF6 cluster ion irradiation. These results indicate that high-speed fabrication can be realized with reactive cluster ion irradiation at high energy.


1995 ◽  
Vol 396 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Takeuchi ◽  
J. Matsuo ◽  
I. Yamada

AbstractGas cluster ions contain tens, hundreds or even more than thousands of atoms or molecules as ionized particles. It has been shown that the bombarding effects of gas cluster ions on solid surfaces are quite different from those by monomer ions and involve unique material processing characteristics. In order to make clear the bombarding effects, a study of surface modification of sapphire by Ar and CO2 gas cluster ion beams has been performed. Thickness of the damaged layer and surface roughness produced on sapphire depends strongly on cluster ion energy. Damage layer thickness on a sapphire surface bombarded by 150 keV clusters with average size of about 3000 atoms was 40Å. No significant difference was observed in IR transmittance after cluster bombardment. Mechanical properties of sapphire surfaces can be changed by cluster irradiation at a dose of 1011 ions/cm2.


2000 ◽  
Vol 647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noriaki Toyoda ◽  
Jiro Matsuo ◽  
Takaaki Aoki ◽  
Shunichi Chiba ◽  
Isao Yamada ◽  
...  

AbstractSecondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) with Gas Cluster Ion Beams (GCIB) was studied with experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to achieve a high-resolution depth profiling. For this purpose, it is important to prevent both ion-mixing and the surface roughening due to energetic ions. As the Ar cluster ion beam shows surface smoothing effects and high secondary-ion yield in the low-energy regime, the cluster ion beam would be suitable for the primary ion beam of SIMS. From MD simulations of Ar cluster ion impact on a Si substrate, the ion-mixing is heavier than for Ar monomer ions at the same energy per atom, because the energy density at the impact point by clusters is extremely high. However, the sputtering yields with Ar cluster ions are one or two orders of magnitude higher than that with Ar monomer ions at the same energy per atom. Comparing at the ion energy where the ion-mixing depths are the same by both cluster and monomer ion impacts, cluster ions show almost ten times higher sputtering yield than Ar monomer ions. Preliminary experiment was done with a conventional SIMS detector and a mass resolution of several nm was achieved with Ar cluster ions as a primary ion beam.


1997 ◽  
Vol 504 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Seki ◽  
M. Tanomura ◽  
T. Aoki ◽  
J. Matsuo ◽  
I. Yamada

ABSTRACTCluster ion beam processes provide new surface modification techniques, such as surface smoothing, high rate sputtering and very shallow implantation, because of the unique interactions between cluster and surface atoms. To understand interactions with cluster and surface, Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) observations have been done for single impact traces.Highly Oriented Pyrolitic Graphite (HOPG) surfaces were bombarded by carbon cluster ions (Va≤300kV), and large ridges and craters have been observed as a result of single cluster ion impact. The impact site diameters are proportional to the cluster size up to 10 atoms, and increase drastically for cluster sizes above 10. This indicates that non-linear multiple collisions occur only when a local area is bombarded by more than 10 atoms at the same time.


2004 ◽  
Vol 843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio Seki ◽  
Jiro Matsuo

ABSTRACTCluster ion beam processes can produce high rate sputtering with low damage in comparison with monomer ion beam processes. Especially, it is expected that extreme high rate sputtering can be obtained using reactive cluster ion beams. Reactive cluster ion beams, such as SF6, CF4, CHF3, and CH2F2, were generated and their cluster size distributions were measured using Time-of-Flight (TOF) method. Si substrates were irradiated with the reactive cluster ions at the acceleration energy of 5–65 keV. Each sputtering yield was increased with acceleration energy and was about 1000 times higher than that of Ar monomer ions. The sputtering yield of SF6 cluster ions was about 4600 atoms/ion at 65 keV. With this beam, 12 inches wafers can be etched 0.5 μm per minute at 1 mA of beam current. The TOF measurement showed that the size of SF6 cluster was about 550 molecules and the number of fluorine atoms in a SF6 cluster was about 3300. If the sputtered product was SiF, the yield has to be less than 3300 atoms/ion. These results indicate that the reactive cluster ions etch targets not only chemically, but also physically. This high-speed processing with reactive cluster ion beam can be applied to fabricate nano-devices.


2007 ◽  
Vol 1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gikan Takaoka ◽  
Masakazu Kawashita ◽  
Takeshi Okada

AbstractIn order to investigate the interactions of methanol cluster ion beams with solid surfaces, Si substrates and SiO2 films were irradiated at different acceleration voltages. The sputtered depth increased with increase of the acceleration voltage. When the acceleration voltage was 9 kV, the sputtered depths of Si and SiO2 at a dose of 1×1016ions/cm2 were 1497.1 nm and 147.8 nm, respectively. The selectivity between Si and SiO2 surfaces arose from the volatility of the reaction products. Furthermore, the sputtering yield for the Si surface was approximately seven hundreds times larger than that by Ar monomer ion beams. This suggested that chemical sputtering was predominant for the methanol cluster ion irradiation. In addition, the etching and cleaning process by the methanol cluster ion irradiation was performed on the Si surfaces contaminated with a small amount of metal particles such as Au and Al. Thus, methanol cluster ion beams have unique characteristics such as surface etching and cleaning with high sputtering yield and smooth surface.


2000 ◽  
Vol 614 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.B. Fenner ◽  
J. Hautala ◽  
L.P. Allen ◽  
J.A. Greer ◽  
W.J. Skinner ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThin-film magnetic sensor and memory devices in future generations may benefit from a processing tool for final-step etching and smoothing of surfaces to nearly an atomic scale. Gas-cluster ion-beam (GCIB) systems make possible improved surface sputtering and processing for many types of materials. We propose application of GCIB processing as a key smoothing step in thin-film magnetic-materials technology, especially spin-valve GMR. Results of argon GCIB etching and smoothing of surfaces of alumina, silicon, permalloy and tantalum films are reported. No accumulating roughness or damage is observed. The distinct scratches and tracks seen in atomic-force microscopy of CMP-processed surfaces, are removed almost entirely by subsequent GCIB processing. The technique primarily reduces high spatial-frequency roughness and renders the topographic surface elevations more nearly gaussian (randomly distributed).


1999 ◽  
Vol 585 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Fenner ◽  
R. P. Torti ◽  
L. P. Allen ◽  
N. Toyoda ◽  
A. R. Kirkpatrick ◽  
...  

AbstractSurface processing of microelectronic materials by bombardment with nanoparticles of condensed gases (i.e., clusters) in the form of an ion beam, makes possible etching and smoothing of those surfaces to very high figures of merit. As this is not possible with any conventional ion method, gas-cluster ion-beam systems have great potential in manufacturing. The formation of gas clusters and their collision with surfaces provides an interesting arena for novel physics and surface science. This paper outlines a physical model for the clusters and surface interactions, and provides examples of surface processing. In particular, the reduction of surface roughness while etching by cluster-ion bombardment is illustrated for various materials utilized in microelectronics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshihiro Hase ◽  
Katsuya Satoh ◽  
Atsuya Chiba ◽  
Yoshimi Hirano ◽  
Shigeo Tomita ◽  
...  

Cluster ion beams have unique features in energy deposition, but their biological effects are yet to be examined. In this study, we employed bacterial spores as a model organism, established an irradiation method, and examined the lethal effect of 2 MeV C, 4 MeV C2, and 6 MeV C3 ion beams. The lethal effect per particle (per number of molecular ions) was not significantly different between cluster and monomer ion beams. The relative biological effectiveness and inactivation cross section as a function of linear energy transfer (LET) suggested that the single atoms of 2 MeV C deposited enough energy to kill the spores, and, therefore, there was no significant difference between the cluster and monomer ion beams in the cell killing effect under this experimental condition. We also considered the behavior of the atoms of cluster ions in the spores after the dissociation of cluster ions into monomer ions by losing bonding electrons through inelastic collisions with atoms on the surface. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to provide a basis for examining the biological effect of cluster ions.


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