Surface processing using water cluster ion beams

Vaporized water clusters were produced by an adiabatic expansion phenomenon, and various substrates such as Si(1 0 0), SiO2, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polycarbonate (PC) were irradiated by water cluster ion beams. The sputtered depth increased with increasing acceleration voltage, and the sputtering rate was much larger than that obtained using Ar monomer ion irradiation. The sputtering yield for PMMA was approximately 200 molecules per ion, at an acceleration voltage of 9 kV. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements showed that high-rate sputtering for the PMMA surface can be ascribed to the surface erosion by the water cluster ion irradiation. Furthermore, the micropatterning was demonstrated on the PMMA substrate. Thus, the surface irradiation by water cluster ion beams exhibited a chemical reaction based on OH radicals, as well as excited hydrogen atoms, which resulted in a high sputtering rate and low irradiation damage of the substrate surfaces.