PLASMA SYNTHESIS OF METALLIC AND COMPOSITE THIN-FILMS WITH ATOMICALLY MIXED SUBSTRATE BONDING

A method for the plasma synthesis of metallic and composite thin films with atomically mixed interfaces is described. A large number of metal species can be applied and surface structures can be fabricated including films of metals and alloys, compounds including ceramics, and tailored multilayers. The added species can be energetically implanted below the surface or built up as a surface film with an atomically mixed interface with the substrate. A vacuum arc produced metal plasma is used, and by adding a gas to the plasma region compound films can also be formed. The process parameters can be varied to fabricate a wide range of surface structures at the atomic level. We have demonstrated the method by synthesizing a number of metallic films as well as oxide and nitride films, including those described here: an yttrium film on silicon with an atomically mixed transition zone; a quarter-micron thick film of Pt on and mixed into Al; an Y/Ti multilayer structure in which the first and last layers were ion stitched to the material below; and an Al2O3 film on steel with a mixed bonding layer about 1000 angstrom thick. Here we describe the background of the technique and the experimental results that we have obtained.