Ion beam deposition improves coatings

17 Jun 2002

A Los Alamos scientist has patented a device useful to any industry that desires tightly adhered, thin coatings on materials, whether it be laying downcorrosion-resistant surfaces on automotive or aircraft parts or forming multiple thin layers for semiconductors.

The device forms a beam of ions, or electrically charged atoms, from essentially any material that can be vaporized. It mixes electrons into the ion beam so that overallthe beam is electrically neutral, which has advantages for coating non-conductive materials. The device makes use of a plasma, or highly energetic charged gas, tocreate an energetic ion beam consisting of the feed gas and evaporating material that forms the coating.

By manipulating the plasma gas, the device can be used to alter the chemical makeup of the layer being formed, allowing electrical properties, for example, to betailored during the coating operation. The technique also provides superior adhesion. Experiments with a thin layer of gold deposited on glass with this deviceshowed that the glass fractured before the gold's surface bond gave way; with other methods, the gold can be removed by applying and lifting a piece of tape.