Measurement of Ion Energy Distribution and Deposition of Ti Thin Films Using ABPPS Technology on Glass Substrate

Ion energy distributions (IEDs) play an important role in material processes and thin film deposition. We developed a newly designed multistep pulsed power supply (modulator) for the asymmetric bipolar pulsed power sputtering (ABPPS) technology and studied the effect of reverse bias voltage in improving the properties of thin films through Ti deposition. Using an ion energy analyzer, we confirmed IEDs and relative ion intensity under a reverse bias voltage of the modulator at the substrate position. A dense plasma was generated near the sputter target at reverse bias voltages above 300 V. Experiments were conducted by varying the bias voltage applied to the sputter target and the duty cycle of the modulator. Our results demonstrate that the in-house-built ABPPS system can be used to clean the sample surfaces without requiring additional energy sources or substrate bias and that thin films prepared using this system have a smoother surface than those prepared by conventional sputtering.

Ion energy distributions from laser-generated plasmas at two different intensities

Laser-generated non-equilibrium plasmas were analyzed at Brookhaven National Laboratory (NY, USA) and MIFT Messina University (Italy). Two laser intensities of 1012 W/cm2 and 109 W/cm2, have been employed to irradiate Al and Al with Au coating targets in high vacuum conditions. Ion energy distributions were obtained using electrostatic analyzers coupled with ion collectors. Time of flight measurements were performed by changing the laser irradiation conditions. The study was carried out to provide optimum keV ions injection into post acceleration systems. Possible applications will be presented.