Ion beam assisted deposition or IBAD or IAD (not to be confused with

ion beam induced deposition Electron-beam-induced deposition (EBID) is a process of decomposing gaseous molecules by an electron beam leading to deposition of non-volatile fragments onto a nearby substrate. The electron beam is usually provided by a scanning electron microsco ...

, IBID) is a materials engineering technique which combines

ion implantation Ion implantation is a low-temperature process by which ions of one element are accelerated into a solid target, thereby changing the physical, chemical, or electrical properties of the target. Ion implantation is used in semiconductor device fa ...

with simultaneous

sputtering In physics, sputtering is a phenomenon in which microscopic particles of a solid material are ejected from its surface, after the material is itself bombarded by energetic particles of a plasma or gas. It occurs naturally in outer space, and ...

or another

physical vapor deposition Physical vapor deposition (PVD), sometimes called physical vapor transport (PVT), describes a variety of vacuum deposition methods which can be used to produce thin films and coatings on substrates including metals, ceramics, glass, and poly ...

technique. Besides providing independent control of parameters such as ion energy, temperature and arrival rate of atomic

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

during deposition, this technique is especially useful to create a gradual transition between the

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (locomotion), the surface over which an organism lo ...

material and the deposited film, and for depositing films with less built-in strain than is possible by other techniques. These two properties can result in films with a much more durable

bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

to the substrate. Experience has shown that some meta-stable compounds like

cubic boron nitride Boron nitride is a thermally and chemically resistant refractory compound of boron and nitrogen with the chemical formula BN. It exists in various crystalline forms that are isoelectronic to a similarly structured carbon lattice. The hexagon ...

(c-BN), can only be formed in thin films when bombarded with energetic ions during the deposition process.

References

* * 4wave Inc.'
Ion beam deposition page
with diagram of a typical IBD system Thin film deposition {{nano-tech-stub

See also

References