Ion beam-assisted deposition

The ion beam assisted deposition and ion beam assisted deposition, ion beam assisted coating or ion beam assisted known coating technique (English ion beam assisted deposition, IBAD ) is a coating method selected from the group consisting of physical vapor deposition. It is primarily used for the production of thin layers. This is done by depositing, while synthesis of metal atoms and gases on substrates. Here, metals are evaporated via different methods, gas molecules dissociated by ion source, ionized, and at the same time offered a mostly heated substrate surface. In contrast to most other methods deposition run in the ion deposition by energetic ions of 10 eV to 1000 eV, the material growth and phase formation processes few nm below the surface of the growing layer. In this way, the method allows the structure, chemical properties, and texturing to influence thin films or coatings also during the manufacturing process specifically.

Operation

Analogous to the molecular beam epitaxy is usually evaporated in addition one or more metals and dissociated reactive gases by various ion sources in or ionized atoms or activated. IBAD facilities consist firstly of a coating station, for example, effusion cells, ion beam sputtering, magnetron sputtering, laser ablation or electron beam evaporator, which is responsible for the actual materials deposition of the layer. Additionally, an ion or neutral particle is directed at a suitable angle to the growing film by different ion sources such as Kaufmann sources duoplasmatron, magnetron or atomic beam sources. The ions thus obtained are accelerated to hyperthermal energy and have an additional pulse directed to the substrate. As a result of the interaction of individual ions with the solid state occur ordering phenomena and structure formation processes that can lead to the emergence of certain metastable phases, to form amorphous or crystalline Atomagglomerate and partly also to the formation of textured layers. This allows the manipulation of the properties of films and coatings, particularly with respect to intrinsic stress, adhesion, surface mechanical properties, corrosion and oxidation resistance and also optical and electrical properties.

IBAD features such as the ability of some materials to manipulate the crystallites with the ion beam, that is directed to take effect on the biaxial texturing of the layer. Varying the flow rate ratio between the film-forming metal atoms and the extracted ions from the ion source, it allows the coating composition and the chemical phase ratio set controlled. Analogous to the molecular beam epitaxy, by the high energy input of the ions ( 10-1000 eV), the substrate temperature compared to the "normal " chemical vapor deposition can be greatly lowered. This allows a wide variety of substrate materials ( for example, temperature-sensitive polymers or alloys) are coated by IBAD.

However, a disadvantage of this method is precisely this high ion energy, the radiation damage caused in the layers, which in turn lead to a disruption of the crystallinity and must be healed, for example, by suitable annealing downstream.