A completely ionized and clustered beam of Mo or Cu is deposited with variable kinetic energy on a substrate, and the filling of micron-sized contact holes on semiconductor devices is studied. An excellent hole filling is obtained for the impact of charged copper clusters, if they contain 1000–3000 Cu atoms and impinge with a kinetic energy of about 10 eV per atom on a substrate having a temperature of 500 K. The morphology of small hole fillings by slow and energetic cluster impact is discussed.

The optical response of spherical Na, + clusters (9 ( j ( 93) shows one large maximum at about 2.7 eV. As a function of the inverse cluster radius its peak position and root mean square energy extrapolate linearly, but with different slopes, to the bulk Mie plasmon. The slopes are compared to two theoretical predictions: the static spill-out equation of cluster science and the dynamic screening theory of surface science as generalized to clusters. Good agreement is obtained. The similarity of collective excitations of surfaces and clusters is emphasized.

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A completely ionized beam of metal clusters is deposited with variable kinetic energy on a substrate. Mirror-like and strongly adhering films having unusual properties are produced for sufficiently high cluster impact energies. Numerical simulations provide the physical insight why this novel technique gives different, and sometimes superior results compared to conventional methods. Several examples are presented.

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