Hydrogenated silicon clusters for deposition on solid surfaces

We have investigated formation characteristics of stable hydrogenated Si cl uster ions, SinHx+, for deposition on solid substrates. The SinHx+ clusters were grown from silane gas in an ion trap developed for cluster growth, an d transported to the solid substrate through an electrostatic quadrupole de flector. Several kinds of the clusters (n = 4 - 10) were grown and transpor ted to the solid substrate. Among them, Si6H13+ hsd the largest population under the optimized conditions. When the Si6H13+ cluster ion beam was focus ed to less than 3 mm in diameter on the solid substrate with a deposition e nergy of 3 eV/Si atom, the beam current obtained was more than 30 pA, which is in the range useful for observation of cluster adsorption structures on solid surfaces.