Design and capabilities of a cluster implantation and deposition apparatus: First results on hillock formation under energetic cluster ion bombardment

Journal article, 2002

A description, advantages, and capabilities of a cluster implantation and deposition apparatus supplied by a pulsed cluster source from gaseous precursors are presented. A number of possible in situ and ex situ experimental methods to study cluster–surface collisions and modified substrate surfaces are discussed. Test experiments on cluster production show formation of Ar, N2, and O2 clusters with size up to 150 atoms for Ar and 60–70 molecules for the other gases. The possibility of cluster mass selection and acceleration up to 25 keV is reported. Nanosize hillock formation was found as a result of cluster–surface collisions with pyrolytic graphite and indium–tin–oxide. It is suggested that the hillocks' parameters such as size and density per surface area can be controlled by varying the implantation parameters and substrate material and thus provide a promising technique for nanoscale surface modification.