The FIB Instrument The basic functions of the FIB, namely, imaging and sputtering with an ion beam, require a highly focused beam. A consistent tenet of any focused beam is that the smaller the effective source size, the more current that can be focused to a point. Unlike the broad ion beams generated from plasma sources, high-resolution ion beams are defined by the use of a field ionization so...

Bombardment of silicon surfaces by low-energy oxygen ions has been investigated as a possible process for growing films ofSiOzat room temperature. Broad ion beams ofenergy 40-200 eV and variable oxygen content have been used to grow ultrathin oxides of extremely uniform thickness. The ion beam oxides are similar to thin thermal oxides in many respects-composition, chemical binding, optical, and...

Ion beam sputtering of ultrathin film Au coatings used as a physical catalyst for self-organization of Si nanostructures has been achieved by tuning the incident particle energy. This approach holds promise as a scalable nanomanufacturing parallel processing alternative to candidate nanolithography techniques. Structures of 11- to 14-nm Si nanodots are formed with normal incidence low-energy Ar...

RATIONALE Chemical modification of a rare gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) to increase the intensity of desorbed molecular ions in secondary ion mass spectrometry experiments relative to the pure Ar cluster. METHODS Doping of the GCIB by mixing small concentration levels (1-3% relative partial pressure) of CH4 into the Ar gas driving the cluster ion source. RESULTS Mass spectra measured on a tre...

A new process for fabricating NiO exchange bias layers has been developed. The process involves the direct ion beam sputtering (IBS) of a NiO target. The process is simpler than other deposition techniques for producing NiO buffer layers, and facilitates the deposition of an entire spin-valve layered structure using IBS without breaking vacuum. The layer thickness and temperature dependence of ...

Zn-silica nanocomposite thin films with varying Zn metal content, deposited by atom beam sputtering technique were subjected to 100 MeV Ag ion irradiation. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry reveals the loss of Zn with irradiation, which is observed to be greater from thin films with lower Zn content. The sputtered species collected on carbon-coated transmission electron microscopy (TEM) gr...