Production of metal oxide thin films by pulsed arc molecular beam deposition

Deposition for the first time of titanium oxide, cerium oxide, and tin oxid e thin films by reactive pulsed arc molecular beam deposition is reported. To produce these thin films, oxygen gas was pulsed between a pair of electr odes situated within a vacuum chamber. A 20 mu f storage capacitor was disc harged between the electrode pair during the gas pulse. A substrate was pla ced inline with the oxygen pulse, on which an oxide coating of the electrod e material was then coated. The films were analyzed by both scanning electr on microscopy and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis. There was a noted strong dependence of the film surface quality on the melting temperat ure of the starting electrode material. (C) 2000 American Institute of Phys ics. [S0034-6748(00)00505-0].