Reduction of irradiation damage using size-controlled nitrogen gas cluster ion beams

This paper reports on low damage sputtering of Si and an organic material (polyimide) using a nitrogen gas cluster ion beam (N2-GCIB). In the case of N2-GCIB irradiation, the thickness of the amorphous and rough interlayer on Si reduced by a greater amount than that in the case of irradiation with Ar cluster ions of the same size and acceleration energy. Similarly, the chemical damage to and surface roughness of polyimide irradiated with N2-GCIB were smaller than those of polyimide irradiated with Ar-GCIB having the same energy per atom. It was thus demonstrated that N2-GCIB is promising for low-damage sputtering of various materials.