FUNDAMENTAL-ASPECTS OF THE IONIZED CLUSTER-BEAM DEPOSITION PROCESS

The electron diffraction measurement of Sb beams ejected by adiabatic expansion from a nozzle source showed that a considerable amount of cl usters with a highly disordered atomic arrangement was produced. The c luster size was found to be larger than a few tens of atoms per cluste r, though the exact size could not be determined. It was reported that after impact of clusters ejected from the nozzle source, cluster isla nds were formed on a substrate surface, and that the film formation st arted by direct deposition of clusters as the rapid nucleation of clus ter islands. These results supported the notion that large atomic clus ters existed in the beam.