Development of polyatomic ion beam system using liquid organic materials

Abstract We have developed a new type of polyatomic ion beam system using liquid organic materials such as octane and ethanol, which consists of a capillary type of nozzle, an ionizer, a mass-separator and a substrate holder. Ion current extracted after ionization was 430 μA for octane and 200 μA for ethanol, respectively. The mass-analysis was realized using a compact E  ×  B mass filter, and the mass-analyzed ion beams were transferred toward the substrate. The ion current density at the substrate was a few μA/cm 2 for the mass-separated ion species. Interactions of polyatomic ion beams with silicon (Si) surfaces were investigated by utilizing the ellipsometry measurement. It was found that the damaged layer thickness irradiated by the polyatomic ions with a mass number of about 40 was smaller than that by Ar ion irradiation at the same incident energy and ion fluence. The result indicated that the rupture of polyatomic ions occurred upon its impact on the Si surface with an incident energy larger than a few keV. In addition, the chemical modification of Si surfaces such as wettability could be achieved by adjusting the incident energy for the ethanol ions, which included all the fragment ions.