Development of ion mixing equipment for R&D use and preparation of tin films by N2 gas assisted ion beam mixing

Abstract We have developed a mass-analyzed ion mixing equipment for surface modification research use. High current ion beams of refractory metals (Cr + : 0.95 mA) were obtained by modifying a conventional Freeman type ion source. We have proposed a N 2 gas assisted ion mixing method in which a TiN film can be formed by evaporated Ti molecules and N + 2 ion beam in a N 2 gas environment. We have verified this proposal by high rate TiN deposition using our newly developed equipment and obtained the following results: (1) crystallinity of TiN film was changed from (111) preferential orientation to (200) orientation by increasing N + 2 ion beam radiation, (2) hard TiN films (Vicker's hardness > 2000) were formed by a small current of N + 2 ion beam radiation which was about one tenth of conventional dynamic mixing method, (3) hardness of TiN films and their crystallinity were closely related.