Lifetime dependence of nitrided carbon stripper foils on sputter angle during N+ ion beam sputtering

We fabricated high-lifetime thin nitride carbon stripper (NCS) foils with high nitrogen contents using ion-beam sputtering with reactive nitrogen gas and investigated the dependence of their lifetimes on the sputter angle. The nitrogen in carbon foils plays a critical role in determining their lifetime. Therefore, in order to investigate the effects of the nitrogen level in NCS foils on foil lifetime, we measured the sputtering yield for different sputter angles at a sputtering voltage of 10 kV while using carbon-based targets. We also measured the nitrogen-to-carbon thickness ratios of the foils using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. The foils made at a sputter angle of 15° using a glassy amorphous carbon target exhibited an average increase of 200-fold in lifetime when compared to commercially available foils.