Focused ion beam direct deposition and its applications

We developed focused ion beam direct deposition as a new focused ion beam technology. The principle of direct deposition is performing ion beam deposition by using low energy focused ion beam. The advantage of this method is high purity of deposited film because of high current density and no usage of gases. We designed and constructed a direct deposition apparatus to get low energy focused ion beam. Ion beams such as Au+, Cu+, Nb2+ over the ion energy range of 0-20 keV (0-40 keV for double charged ion) are available with this apparatus. The minimum decelerated beam diameter was 0.5 μm. We measured purity, sticking probability, resistivity and niobium critical temperature of direct deposited film. Some results were obtained that follow our prediction such as high purity, low resistivity of gold and copper as well as superconductivity of niobium. Now we are developing applications of this method. (author)