A new etching method for a single crystalline ΑI2O3(100) film grown on Si(100) by LPCVD and a sapphire wafer is established for the first time using Si ion-implantation and buffered hydrofluoric acid (HF+H2O) chemical etchant to develop many applications of the SOI structure. Line and space patterns of resist were transferred to sharp A12O3 and Si patterns. An etching of 0.1 2/μm-thick-Al2O3 films on Si substrates and sapphire wafers was observed very clearly. The etch rate is lOOÂ/min under implanted conditions of 80kV and 3×1015 cm-2.The implanted ΑI2O3 surfaces are investigated by SIMS and XPS. The change from AI2O3 to Al2O3 SiO2 (aluminosilicate), which can be easily etched HF+H2O, is considered to be a main reason, though bonds broken by implantation are also effective for this etching.

LiTaO3 single crystals have been implanted with 100 keV oxygen ions at room temperature with doses of 1×1014 /cm2,6xl014/cm2,1.2x1015/cm2, 6xl015/cm2, and 2xl016/cm2. Annealing temperatures ranged from 550 °C to 1075 °C. RBS-channeling and TEM were used for characterization. For partially damaged samples, complete recovery of the crystalline structure was achieved after annealing at 550 °C, which is below the Curie temperature. For totally amorphized samples, thermal annealing induced multidomain growth. These domains extend beyond the original amorphous/crystal interface deep into bulk (1 – 1.5 μm ).

Gas cluster ions contain tens, hundreds or even more than thousands of atoms or molecules as ionized particles. It has been shown that the bombarding effects of gas cluster ions on solid surfaces are quite different from those by monomer ions and involve unique material processing characteristics. In order to make clear the bombarding effects, a study of surface modification of sapphire by Ar and CO2 gas cluster ion beams has been performed. Thickness of the damaged layer and surface roughness produced on sapphire depends strongly on cluster ion energy. Damage layer thickness on a sapphire surface bombarded by 150 keV clusters with average size of about 3000 atoms was 40Å. No significant difference was observed in IR transmittance after cluster bombardment. Mechanical properties of sapphire surfaces can be changed by cluster irradiation at a dose of 1011 ions/cm2.

Thin films (100–400 nm) of lead silicate glass have been deposited by RF magnetron sputtering in Ar plasma at different discharge conditions. The interaction of the sputtered species with the gas atoms during the transport process through the discharge region and the kinetics of growth of the films have been investigated as a function of the target composition and of the substrate temperature. This study demonstrates the possibility of controlling the surface electrical resistance of the films in a wide range of values ranging from 1012 to 1017 during the film growth.

Conducting carbon films are irradiated by high energy ion beam and persistent photoconductivity has been found from the irradiated samples. A complex distribution of traps created mostly by random displacement of carbon atoms by energetic ion beam from its polymeric matrix showed a persistent photoconductivity at low temperatures down to 50K. From the photo decay constants and the magnitude of photocurrent the density of traps and the corresponding activation energies have been calculated.

In the absence of gravity, the behaviour of a liquid within a container will depend on its ability to wet the container. For instance, we evidenced that wetting property is involved in the propagation of perturbation, at the liquid-air interface. Because of perturbation in space, there is a strong interest in the modification of wetting properties for fluid management and materials processing in microgravity. The use of low energy (-500 eV) ion beams is attractive. Combining their low mean range (a few nm) and erosion rate, they are well suited for the modification at will of surface composition. Nitrogen, oxygen and neon ions of low energy were used to bombard the surface of plexiglas (polymethylmethacrylate or PMMA) and carbon samples at different fluences. Advancing and receding contact angles were measured before and after the implantation. A decrease of the contact angle as a function of the fluence of implanted ions was measured. A partial recovery of the contact angles as a function of time after the implantation was also observed. There was evidence that the long term value of the contact angles was influenced by the composition of the gas surrounding the samples. These results are discussed in terms of the development of a new technology for the modification at will of wetting properties of materials.

Ion beam implantation of polymers has been shown to modify electrical and mechanical properties near the surface of the material. A complete understanding of the mechanism of modification and type of microstructure remaining as a result of this process has not yet been achieved. In this paper, we will discuss how recent advances in our understanding of these fundamental mechanisms and material processing techniques has led to a number ot prototypical applications. Specifically, the fundamentals of using ion implanted polymers as high value, small geometry resistors, temperature, strain, and vacuum sensing materials and as protective surfaces in chemically reactive environments.

Crosslinking onset was investigated for ultra high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMW-PE) implanted with 2.6 MeV H+ ions at low doses from 6×1011-3×1013 ions/cm2. Crosslinking in the near surface region(20–40μm) was determined from gel permeation chromatography(GPC) of 1,2,4 trichlorobenzene sol fractions and increased with dose. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) showed irradiation resulted in increased free radicals confirmed from increased carbonyl groups. Hydrogen annealing after ion implantation resulted in 38–49% decrease in FTIR peak associated with carbonyl.

Conducting polypyrrole polymer films have been modified by ion implantation. The resulting cross linking leads to changes in resistivity and electrochemical behaviour. By ion implantation through masks or with a focused ion beam lateral structures can be produced which can be imaged by scanning electron microscopy and optical absorption. The implanted polypyrrole layers can be removed by electrochemical treatment while not implanted regions can be electroplated. Therefore in combination with electrochemical treatment three dimensional structures have been generated and were investigated by atomic force microscopy. In order to study structures in the submicrometer range implantation experiments with a focused ion beam were performed and the minimal line widths were investigated by scanning electron microscopy.

The electronic and nuclear stopping effects produced by MeV ion bombardment in polyvinylidine chloride (PVDC) and polyethylene (PE) are separated by stacking thin films of the polymers. The resulting multi-layer laminates of each polymer were bombarded with 3.5 MeV alpha particles. The energy of the incident ions was selected, using TRIM, such that the first layers experienced most of the effects of the electronic energy deposited and the last layers received most of the effects of the nuclear stopping power. The changes in the conductance and the chemical structure of each layer were measured by direct resistivity measurements and Raman microprobe analysis.

Photolithographic processing capabilities of ion implanted polymer (IIP) films spin-coated onto silicon substrates were evaluated to determine the optimum conditions for producing stable, small geometry devices. Films which had a thickness approximately equivalent to or less than the mean range of ions in the polymer had good quality and stability, and could be patterned without change of conductivity to form small geometry resistors with dimensions of 10 to 50 micrometers. Sixteen-element, packaged resistor arrays were produced from ion implanted poly(styrene-acrylonitrile) films. High quality films with resistivities from 400 ohms/square to 10 megohms/square could be produced by the ion implantation technique. Suspended conducting polymer bridges were formed from IIP resistors by etching of a sacrificial layer underlying the IIP film. Electrical and mechanical properties of the bridges are presented.

A surface of thin square PTFE samples (1×1×0.2 cm3) was irradiated with Ar+ ion at 1 keV with varying ion dose from 5 x 1014 to 1 x 1017 ions/cm2 with and without oxygen environment. The chemical structure of the surface was examined by XPS. The high resolution XPS spectra showed decreased intensity of the Fls peak and formation of the Ol s peak when irradiated with O2 environment. The Ols peak reached the maximum height at the ion dose of 1 x l015 ions/cm2. The increase of the Ols peak may be attributed to the reaction of oxygen atoms and the free radicals created by Ar+ bombardment. Adhesion tests were conducted on 2000 Å thick Al or Cu film which was evaporated on the irradiated and unirradiated PTFE samples with and without O2 environment. Full detachment of the metal films was observed when PTFE samples were not modified. With regard to the Al film, partial detachment of the film occurred when PTFE was irradiated without O2 environment, regardless of ion dose. No detachment of the film occurred when PTFE was irradiated with O2 environment with the ion dose exceeding 1 x 1016 ions/cm2. As to the Cu film, partial detachment was observed with or without O2 environment when the ion dose was 5 x 1014 ions/cm2. No detachment occurred with or without O2 environment when the ion dose was 1 x 1015 ions/cm2 or greater. The adhesion of an adhesive (Crystal Bond) to the irradiated PTFE samples was found to increase significantly with increasing ion dose up to 1 x 1016 ions/cm2 in tensile tests. It appears that three separate mechanisms are at work in improving adhesion of Cu/PTFE and Al/PTFE system. The first is the surface roughness of PTFE caused by Ar+ bombardment, the second is the chemical changes on the PTFE surface, and the third is a change of the interface between the metal and PTFE. The wettability of the PTFE surface was also determined by dropping water droplets on the modified surfaces. The contact angle between water droplets and the irradiated surface of PTFE samples decreased with ion dose up to 1 x 1015ions/cm2, increased at higher dose, and finally increased to the extent that no wetting was possible at 1 x 1017 ions/cm2. The PTFE samples irradiated with Ar+ without O2 gas environment had lower contact angle than those with O2, even though the samples with O2 developed hydrophilic groups on the irradiated surface. This result on wettability is not consistent with our earlier results on PMMA and PC and is due to the unusually high level of surface roughness of PTFE caused by Ar+ bombardment.

Surface modification of polycarbonate(PC) was performed to improve the wettability by Ar+ ion irradiation with 1 keV energy in oxygen environment. The ion dose ranged from 5 x 1014 to 5 x 1016 ions/cm2 and oxygen flow rate was also varied from 0 to 6 sccm(ml/min.). Contact angle was not much decreased from 78° to 48° for water and from 63° to 32° for formamide by Ar+ ion irradiation without oxygen gas, but largely reduced to 12° for water and to 8° for formamide as Ar+ ion irradiation with 4 seem oxygen gas. Surface energy of modified PC surface which was irradiated with oxygen gas was more increased than that of PC surface irradiated without oxygen gas. It is evident that the increase of surface energy for PC modified with oxygen gas is due to hydrophilic group which result from the chemical reaction between PC surface and oxygen gas. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) analysis, the newly formed hydrophilic group is identified as hydrophilic C=0 bond, and atomic force microscope(AFM), it is found that the root mean square of surface roughness is changed from 14 Å to 22 ∼ 26 Å for Ar+ ion irradiation only and 26 ∼ 30 Å for Ar+ ion irradiation with 4 seem oxygen gas. Therefore wettability of PC surface is much more affected by newly formed hydrophilic group than surface roughness in keV energy Ar+ ion irradiation.

A surface of PC, PMMA, and PET samples irradiated with Ar+ ion of 1 keV energy with and without oxygen environment was investigated by contact angle measurement and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra. Contact angle of water droplets on the irradiated surface of the polymers decreased and remained almost constant with increasing Ar+ irradiation without oxygen. However, when the polymers were irradiated under oxygen environment, the contact angle markedly decreased with increasing ion dose upto 1016 ions/cm2. XPS results show that, after Ar+ irradiation under oxygen, hydrophilic groups were developed on PC, PMMA, and PET. The peak ratio (O/C) of PET irradiated without oxygen decreased with increasing ion dose, whereas that of PET irradiated under oxygen increased with ion dose upto 1016 ions/cm2

Results of investigations of optical waveguides formed by high energy helium implantation into lithium niobate codoped with 5 mol% MgO and 1 mol% Tm3+ or 1 mol% Er3+ are reported. A comparative study of structural and luminescence properties between implanted and untreated samples has been performed by means of Rutherford backscattering (RBS) combined with channeling and photoluminescence methods, respectively in order to investigate residual lattice damage and the incorporation of the optical active rare earths. For the case of Tm a full substitutional incorporation on the lithium site and a high crystal quality in both bulk and implanted waveguide material has been found. For Er doped lithium niobate the channeling results show a fraction of Er randomly incorporated or forming precipitates and a deterioration of the waveguide's lattice. The optical investigations show in both cases only a slight broadening of the emission lines of the rare earths in the waveguides compared to the bulk material.

Planar waveguides created by the implantation at 500°C of 2.5 x 1017 Ti ions/cm2 and 7.5 x 1017 O ions/cm2 have been characterized for loss by the scattered light technique. Preliminary results indicate losses of less than 2.5 dB/cm.

To study the defect creation induced by electronic processes in refractory oxides, MgO single crystals were irradiated with high energy tin, uranium and lead ions. Optical absorption measurements showed that F-type centers (oxygen vacancies with trapped electrons) were created during irradiation. The total number of centers per unit area of bombarded sample increases linearly with irradiating fluence. The main part of the point defects was found to arise from electronic processes. The concentration of F-type centers induced by ionization increases with the electronic energy losses. Assuming a saturation of point defect concentration at high fluences, F-type center creation cross sections could be estimated. The influence of irradiation temperature and of the velocity of the bombarding ions are discussed.

Previously, we showed that localized optical modifications could be produced without subsequent post thermal annealing in selectively masked planar GaAs/Al 4Ga6As waveguide structures using 10 MeV oxygen ions. In our present investigation, irradiation experiments were performed on masked GaAs/Al 4Ga6As waveguide samples at 298 K using 10 MeV oxygen and 8 MeV carbon ions. The two ion incident energies were chosen to yield the maximum electronic stopping power near the interface septing the top cladding layer and the guiding layer. This localized modification process emphasizes the crucial role that the electronic energy transfer plays on the degree to which the refractive index of the guiding layer is altered. Propagation loss measurements on the fabricated channel waveguides were performed by end fire coupling a laser diode source at a wavelength of 1.3 μm. Observation of the extracted propagation loss values reveal that further optimization of the ion beam pmeters are required before practical applications can be achieved. The relative efficiency of the various ions to induce optically altered regions which serve as lateral confinement barriers of laser light shows that this fabrication process is sensitive to the ion beam current.

Ion implantation and thermal annealing have been used to produce a wide range of nanocrystals and quantum dots in amorphous (SiO2) and crystalline (AI2O3) matrices. Nanocrystals of metals (Au), elemental semiconductors (Si and Ge), and even compound semiconductors (SiGe, CdSe, CdS) have been produced. In amophous matrices, the nanocrystals are randomly oriented, but in crystalline matrices they are three dimensionally aligned. Evidence for photoluminescence and quantum confinement effects are presented.

Single crystals of sapphire were implanted at room temperature with 300 keV-Ag+. The metal precipitate was characterized by a multitechnique approach including RBS, optical absorption and Raman spectroscopy. RBS measurements were used to determine the depth-profiles of the implanted ions. Ag depth profiles, derived from RBS are in good agreement with the results predicted by Monte Carlo simulations. Linear absorption spectroscopy has been used to characterize the effects of the ion fluence on the optical properties of the metal colloids in the UV-Vis region. The broad absorption band due to the surface plasmon resonance shows an appreciable red-shift when the fluence of bombarding ions increases. Raman scattering from acoustic vibrations of the silver clusters progressively shifts toward the laser frequency with increasing implantation dose. From low-frequency Raman spectra an evaluation of the average size of metal aggregates was derived.