A film is deposited on a target (16) of a substrate (12) by sending a beam (28) of ionized clusters (30) of a volatile species (32) against the substrate (12) at the same time that a non-volatile material (24) is deposited on the substrate. The agglomerates (30) are loose way related groups from 2 to about 10000 atoms. The agglomerates (30) disintegrate striking the surface (16) of the substrate (12) so that individual atoms of the agglomerates (30) transfer the energy of the agglomerate (30) to the surface (16). Contaminant substances on the surface are eliminated and the atoms or molecules of non-volatile material (24) are activated by energetic atoms of the non-volatile species on the surface (16) to improve deposition uniformity, improving and the properties of the deposited film. The volatile species (32) is an inert gas which serves only to transform the energy towards the surface (16) and then leaves the surface (16) without reaction or else the volatile species may be a reactive gas which reacts with the non-volatile species (24) on the surface (16) to form a reaction product.
展开▼
