Ion beam-assisted deposition for low temperature formation of coatings

Abstract Ion beam-assisted deposition, i.e. bombardment of a growing film with energetic ions, is a new versatile method for producing coatings with well-defined film and interface properties. Besides the low temperature (usually well below 200°C), this process has an important advantage compared to most plasma-assisted PVD techniques: ion beam, condensation rate and process pressure are independent from each other and can be controlled individually over a wide range. Thus by cleaning and activating the substrate surface by presputtering before coating and by mixing the growing first monolayers of the film with energetic ions, highly adherent films can be obtained. Additionally, the intrinsic stress of the coatings can be influenced by proper adustment of the ion/atom ratio, i.e. the ratio of impacting ions to condensing atoms. In this contribution the influence of bombardment with rare gas ions on the growth of B and Cr films with regard to stress and adhesion of these coatings will be presented and discussed.