AVS 47th International Symposium
    Thin Films Friday Sessions
       Session TF+NS-FrM

Invited Paper TF+NS-FrM1
Cluster Beam Synthesis of Nanostructured Thin Films

Friday, October 6, 2000, 8:20 am, Room 203

Session: Nanostructured Thin Films
Presenter: P. Milani, Universita' Di Milano, Italy
Authors: P. Milani, Universita' Di Milano, Italy
P. Piseri, Universita' Di Milano, Italy
E. Barborini, Universita' Di Milano, Italy
A. Podesta', Universita' Di Milano, Italy
C. Lenardi, Universita' Di Milano, Italy
Correspondent: Click to Email
We will present and discuss the use of supersonic cluster beam deposition (SCBD) for the production of nanostructured thin films. With this technique nanostructured films of refractory and semiconductor materials can be produced over large areas on various substrates at room temperature. Elemental building blocks are clusters with a number of atoms ranging from few tens up to few hundreds. These units organize in the film in hierarchical structures from the nanoscale to the mesoscale. By exploiting aerodynamical effects typical of supersonic beams it is possible to obtain very high deposition rates with a control on neutral cluster mass distribution, allowing the deposition of thin films with controlled nanostructure. Due to high deposition rates, high lateral resolution, low temperature processing SCBD can also be used for the micro and nanopattering of cluster-assembled films when little or no post-growth manipulation or assembly is required. As a practical example we will discuss the case of nanostructured carbon films. Surface morphologies, granularity and atomic structure of nanostructured carbon films grown with different precursors and under different conditions have been investigated by different techniques. The application of nanostructured carbon for the fabrication of supercapacitors and field emission devices will be discussed.