Plasma-based ion implantation: a valuable technology for the elaboration of innovative materials and nanostructured thin films

Abstract

et al.. Plasma-based ion implantation : a valuable technology for the elaboration of innovative materials and nano-structured thin films. 12th Abstract. Plasma-based ion implantation (PBII), invented in 1987, can now be considered as a mature technology for thin film modification. After a short recall of the principle and physics of PBII, its advantages and disadvantages, as compared to conventional ion beam implantation, are listed and commented. The elaboration of thin films or the modification of their functional properties by PBII are now currently achieved in many application fields, such as microelectronics (plasma doping / PLAD), biomaterials (surgical implants, bio-and bloodcompatible materials), plastics (grafting, surface adhesion), metallurgy (hard coatings, tribology), to name a few. The major interest of PBII processing lies, on one hand, in its flexibility in terms of ion implantation energy (from zero to 100 keV), of operating conditions (plasma density, collisional or non-collisional ion sheath), and, on the other hand, in the possibility to easily transfer processes from the laboratory to industry. The possibility to modify the composition and the physical nature of the films, or to change drastically their physical properties over several orders of magnitude makes this technology very attractive for the elaboration of innovative materials, including metastable materials, and the realization of micro-or nanostructures. A review of the state-of-the-art in these domains is presented and illustrated through a few selected examples The perspectives opened by PBII processing, as well as its limitations, are discussed.

Plasma-based ion implantation and deposition: a review of physics, technology, and applications

“…This is the case of Ni films, which do not present any significant magnetic property after nitrogen implantation [142]. In contrast, the implantation of manganese films with nitrogen confers magnetic properties to the implanted layer [143].…”

“…The possibility of modifying the composition and physical nature of surface layers, and changing drastically their physical properties over several orders of magnitude, makes PBII technology very attractive for the elaboration of innovative materials, including metastable materials, and the realization of micro-or nanostructures [143].…”

Bulk and thin films of magnetic shape memory Ni–Mn–Ga alloys deposited by multi-dipolar plasma-assisted sputtering

“…Magnetic properties of the deposits reveal sensitivity to an annealing treatment. However, early tests of magnetic actuation undertaken with deposits on Ag or Al substrates reveal negativity for several potential reasons reference to [10,11] (i) the ratio of the substrate to the thin film thickness was larger than 10, thus probably blocking any dilatation effect since the substrates were made of Al, Ag or Si, (ii) the smallness of the actuated crystallites can prevent any long range actuation force to develop, (iii) the chemical composition of the as received thin layers can stand rather far from the best compositions whose actuation properties are above room temperature.…”

“…This type of microwave plasma reactor for deposit or for ion implantation has been described with details in refs. [10,11].…”

Characteristics of pulsed plasma doping sources for ultrashallow junction formation

“…17 Unlike beamline implantation there is no systematic ion-mass separation that takes place in PPI. All the positive ions in the plasma can be implanted to some degree.…”