Gas cluster ion beam applications and equipment

Interactions of gas cluster ions with solid surfaces, and prospective applications for those interactions, have been research topics of interest for several years. Substantial development efforts have been directed towards the problems associated with generating and transporting cluster ion beams having intensities sufficient to allow utilization in practical processing equipment. Unique smoothing, etching and chemical transformation effects which can be produced by cluster ion beams have been applied to a broad range of materials. Original gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) equipment which provided nanoampere level beam currents has evolved into automated milliampere level machines offering excellent process throughput, uniformity and reproducibility over large area targets. This paper will review cluster ion interactions, example applications and the present status of commercial GCIB processing equipment. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.