Importance of surface preparation in direct ion beam deposition (IBD)

Fundamental aspects of direct ion beam deposition (IBD) are discussed, stressing surface preparation and contamination problems. Residual gas contamination, ion beam induced metal contamination, and presence of surface native oxide before deposition are shown to be the major factors hindering low temperature epitaxial growth in IBD. A low energy hydrogen ion bombardment is demonstrated as an effective surface preparation method to remove surface native oxide in the case of silicon deposition