Silicon rich silica films were deposited by coevaporation of silica and silicon with and without simultaneous ion bombardment. The Si-silica ratios are correlated to changes of index of refraction and shifts in an asymmetric stretching mode IR absorption. Photoluminescence between 550 and 600 nm is observed for all films which is attributed to SiO2 defects. After annealing this photoluminescence peak shows a shift to 750 nm and an increase in intensity, indicating the formation of silicon nanoclusters. This effect is more pronounced for samples prepared without ion beam treatment. ERD measurements show a correlation of photoluminescence with the presence of hydrogen in the films. The microstructure of these films were investigated by TEM. Photoluminescence from the Si nanoclusters in the films is optimized when the arrival rate of Si/silica is slightly less than 0.4.

Si<110> single crystals were implanted at a temperature of 835 K with 150 keV Pb+ ions to a fluence of 1·1020 m−2 corresponding to an average concentration of 2–3 at%. The implanted samples have been studied by Rutherford Backscattering (RBS)/channeling and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. In as-implanted samples the main fraction of implanted Pb was located on substitutional sites in the Si matrix thus providing a highly supersaturated solution of Pb in Si. Spontaneous precipitation of Pb, giving rise to formation of nanosized Pb inclusions, was found to take place only in the peak region of the implantation. TEM analysis showed that the Pb precipitates had sizes from about 2 to 20 nm and that they grew in parallel cube orientation relationship with the host matrix. The shape of the inclusions was found to be approximately cuboctahedral with poorly developed {111} and {100} facets.

In-situ RBS/channeling heating/cooling experiments on both as-implanted samples and samples previously furnace-annealed at 1175 K showed a distinct melting/solidification hysteresis of the Pb inclusions around the bulk melting point for Pb at 600 K. These results were verified by in-situ TEM heating/cooling experiments on as-implanted samples.

Self-organization processes in Xe nanocrystals embedded in Al are observed with in-situ high-resolution electron microscopy. Under electron irradiation, stacking fault type defects are produced in Xe nanocrystals. The defects recover in a layer by layer manner. Detailed analysis of the video reveals that the displacement of Xe atoms in the stacking fault was rather small for the Xe atoms at boundary between Xe and Al, suggesting the possibility of the stacking fault in Xe precipitate originating inside of precipitate, not at the Al/Xe interface.

The wetting property of polymers is very important in different applications such as biomaterials, textiles, aerospace (fluid management and materials processing in microgravity), and thin film adhesion. Therefore, there is a strong interest in the development of a new technology for the modification at will of this property. The use of low energy ion beams allows the modification of the first surface atomic layers. Nitrogen ions of 500 eV/at. were used to bombard the surface of polycarbonate (PC) samples to a fluence of 5×1016 at/cm2. Five different environments (oxygen, nitrogen, argon, dry air and vacuum) were used to store the samples for some hours (1 to 24 hours) after the implantation. Aging studies of the contact angle (advancing and receding) have shown that the environment gas influences the long term value of the contact angle and helps to maintain the stability of the treated surfaces with the passage of time. XPS and ToF-SIMS have been used to study the chemical effects of both N2+ ion irradiation and storage gas surrounding the samples. The results show faster aging in the case of the samples stored in vacuum, a harmful effect of nitrogen gas on the treatment and the formation of new chemical species for all treatments.

Ion assisted reaction (IAR), which was firstly presented in 1995 MRS Fall meeting, has been reviewed for the surface modifications of polymer and ceramics. The reaction is assisted by energetic ions from 0.5 to 1.5 keV, doses 1014 to 1017 ions/cm2, and blowing rate of oxygen 0 ∼ 8 ml/min. Hydrophilic surfaces of polymers (wetting angle < 20° and surface energy 60 ∼ 70 erg/cm2) have been accomplished by the reaction, and an improvement of wettability and an increment of the surface energy are mainly due to the polar force and hydrophilic functional groups such as C=O, (C=O)-O, C-O, etc., without surface damage. The IAR was also applied on aluminum nitride in an O2 environment and AMON on AIN is formed by the Ar+ irradiation. The improvement of bond strength of Cu films on the AIN surface resulted from the interface bonds between Cu and the surface layers. Comparisons between the conventional surface treatments and the IAR are described in terms of physical bombardment, surface damage, functional group, and chain mobility in polymer.

Polyimide films are modified by ion assisted reaction method using various ion beams in various gases environments. Amount of ion and blown gases rate were changed from 5 × 1014 to 1 × 1017 and from 0 to 8 sccm, respectively. Wetting angles between water and polyimide films modified by Ar+ ion without oxygen blowing decrease from 67° to 400° and surface free energies increase from 46 to 64 dyne/cm2. Wetting angle of polyimide films modified by Ar+ ion in an oxygen environment decreases to 12° and surface free energy increases to 72 dyne/cm2. The lowest wetting angle was obtained by oxygen ion irradiation in the oxygen gas environment and its value was 7°. In the case of polyimide film modified by Ar+ ions in an oxygen environment, the wetting angle increases up to 65° when it kept in air and that increases up to 46° when it kept in water after 5 day. In the case of polyimide film modified by O2+ ion in oxygen environment, however, the wetting angle of polyimide film dose not increase. X-ray photoelectron analysis shows that the chemical bonds between polyimide components are severed by ion irradiation and hydrophilic groups such as CO and C=O are formed by the reaction between newly formed radicals and blown oxygen. It was found that adhesion between Cu and polyimide modified by ion assisted reaction was improved. The main reason of the enhanced adhesion is due to the reaction between Cu and C-O or C=O groups formed by ion assisted reaction on the polyimide surface.

The thermal stability of ion irradiated 1.7 μm thick AZ-1350J photoresist films was investigated using the RBS and ERDA techniques to measure the composition of the irradiated and annealed films. The films have been irradiated with He, N and Ar ions at energies from 380 to 760 keV and fluences between 2 × 1015 and 1016 ions cm−2. A considerable increase in the thermal stability of the He irradiated film is observed from ≈200°C – when the non-irradiated film starts to decompose – to 400°C after the irradiation. The FTIR spectroscopy and the SEM observations were used to study the chemical structural changes and the surface morphology of the irradiated samples. The results are discussed in terms of the energy density deposited by the ions, the large loss of H during irradiation, and the resulting increase in cross-linking density.

The electronic and nuclear stopping effects produced by MeV ion bombardment in polyethylene (PE) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) have been previously studied and reported. We have subsequently selected two other insulators: polystyrene (PS) and polyethersulfone (PES) which contains sulfur as a crosslinking agent, and irradiated them with MeV alpha particles. The electronic and nuclear effects of the incident ions were separated by stacking thin films of the polymers. A layered system was selected 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. The changes in the chemical structure were measured by residual gas analysis (RGA), Raman microprobe analysis, RBS and FTIR. The post-irradiation characterization resolved the effects of the stopping powers on the PS and PES and the results were compared with those from PE and PVDC.