Structure and adhesion of vapour deposits, partially ionized vapour deposits, cluster deposits and partially ionized cluster deposits

Magnesium and CdS films deposited in a high vacuum from neutral and partially ionized beams of atoms (molecules) and multiatomic particles (clusters) using vapour deposition (VD), partially ionized vapour deposition (PIVD), cluster deposition (CD) and partially ionized cluster deposition (PICD) techniques have been investigated. The presence of clusters in the vapour beam of the material to be deposited is shown to have a strong effect on the crystallization process. This effect is determined not only by the cluster energy but also by the cluster size. The use of CD and PICD enables films of various grain sizes with a small size variation to be obtained. Highly oriented epitaxial films were obtained at lower substrate temperatures than those required for VD and PIVD. It was also experimentally established that clusters containing about 10 2–10 3 atoms are required to produce highly oriented epitaxial films by means of the CD and PICD techniques. The adhesion of magnesium and CdS films formed by CD is weaker than that of the films obtained by VD. The adhesion of the films produced by PICD at an accelerating voltage of — 5 kV is an order of magnitude higher than that of the films produced by VD and CD and is quantitatively closer to the adhesion of the films produced by PIVD.