Ar Cluster Ion Bombardment Effects on Semiconductor Surfaces

Abstract

AbstractNew surface modification processes have been demonstrated using gas cluster ion irradiations because of their unique interaction between cluster ions and surface atoms. For example, high quality ITO films could be obtained by O2 cluster ion assisted deposition at room temperature. It is necessary to understand the role of cluster ion bombardment during film formation for the further developments of this technology. Variable Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscope (VT-STM) in Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) allows us to study ion bombardment effects on surfaces and nucleation growth at various temperatures.The irradiation effects between Ar cluster ion and Xe monomer ion were compared. When a Si(111) surface with Ge deposited to a few Å was annealed to 400°C, it was observed that many islands of Ge were formed. The surface with the Ge islands was irradiated by these ions. In the STM image of cluster-irradiated surface, large craters with diameter of about 100 Å were observed, while only small traces with diameter of about 20 Å were observed in monomer-irradiated surface. The number of Ge atoms displaced by one Ar cluster ion impact was much larger than that by one Xe ion impact. This result indicates that Ar cluster ion impacts can enhance the physical modification of Ge islands. When the sample irradiated with Ar cluster was annealed at 600°C, the hole remained, but the outer rim of the crater disappeared and the surface structure was reconstructed at the site of the rim. The depth of damage region in the target became shallower with decrease of the impact energy. These results indicate that low damage and useful surface modification can be realized using the cluster ion beam.