FORMATION OF ZINC CLUSTERS IN IONIZED CLUSTER BEAM FILM DEPOSITION

Ionized cluster beam deposition uses a beam of ionized, accelerated atom clusters to grow thin films. Earlier unsuccessful attempts at forming such cluster beams used 1 X 1 mm nozzles at crucible pressures around 2 Torr. Recently, Gspann [Proceedings of the Ger. Phys. Soc. 3, 387 (1992)] produced zinc clusters by increasing the crucible pressure to the 1000 Torr range and using a converging-diverging nozzle 18 mm long and 0.4 mm in diameter at the throat. The work reported here uses electron bombardment heating and deflected deposition cluster measurement. Results indicate significant numbers of zinc clusters, 1400 atoms in average size, in general agreement with Gspann.