Clusters occupy an intermediate place between individual atoms and large formations, solids. Clusters are collections of atoms, from several to several tens of thousands, united by forces of various nature. These may be Van der Waals forces, covalent chemical bonds, metal bonds, etc. Accelerators of gas cluster ion beams are promising in such industrial technologies as ion-assisted deposition of thin films, surface cleaning, and ion implantation at shallow depths.
A gas cluster ion accelerator was created in our laboratory, which allows us to conduct experiments using cluster ion beams of various gases, energies, and sizes. At the accelerator, experiments are conducted on high-precision polishing of the surfaces of metals and semiconductors, and the mechanisms of sputtering of solids by cluster ions are studied.
The features of the developed system allow for flexible modification of its parameters: to install additional devices and equipment, for example, spectrometers, systems for monitoring the sample temperature, suppressing the charging of samples under an ion beam, etc., moreover, the provided possibilities for changing the geometry of the nozzle, pressure, type of gases allow conduct advanced research in the field of clusters’ generation.
The main characteristics of the setup:
- Size: up to several thousand atoms in a cluster
- Ion energies: 1 – 15 keV
- Beam current: up to several μA (depending on cluster composition)
- Ability to control target temperature over a wide range