Design and capabilities of an experimental setup based on magnetron sputtering for formation and deposition of size-selected metal clusters on ultra-clean surfaces

Abstract

The design and performance of an experimental setup utilizing a magnetron sputtering source for production of beams of ionized size-selected clusters for deposition in ultra-high vacuum is described. For the case of copper cluster formation the influence of different source parameters is studied and analyzed. Size-selected clusters are deposited on substrates and the efficiency of an electrostatic quadrupole mass selector is tested. Height analysis using atomic force microscopy (AFM) demonstrates relative standard size deviations of 7%-10% for the particles of various sizes between 6 nm and 19 nm. Combined analysis by AFM and transmission electron microscopy reveals that the clusters preserve almost spherical shape after the deposition on amorphous carbon substrates. Supported nanoparticles of a few nanometres in diameter have crystalline structure with a face-centered cubic (fcc) lattice.

Soft‐ and reactive landing of ions onto surfaces: Concepts and applications

“…Methods of ionization fall broadly into two categories, either continuous or pulsed. The most prevalent continuous ionization sources used for ion soft landing include electron impact ionization (EI) (Pradeep et al, ; Biesecker et al, ; Wijesundara et al, ; Bottcher et al, ), electrospray ionization (ESI) (Feng et al, ; Ouyang et al, ; Alvarez et al, ; Volny & Turecek, ; Mazzei et al, ; Hamann et al, ; Hauptmann et al, ), direct current (DC) or radiofrequency (RF) magnetron sputtering combined with gas aggregation (Haberland et al, , , ; Barnes et al, ; Pratontep et al, ; Tanemura et al, ; Lim et al, ; Duffe et al, ; Watanabe & Isomura, ; Gracia‐Pinilla et al, ; Nielsen et al, ; Wepasnick et al, ; Hartmann et al, ; Ludwig & Moore, ; Yin et al, ), high energy ion sputtering (Lapack et al, ; Harbich et al, ; Dong et al, ; Bromann et al, ; Fedrigo et al, ; Schaffner et al, ; O'Shea et al, ; Yamaguchi et al, ; Lau et al, ), and gas condensation/aggregation (GC) (Patil et al, ; Goldby et al, ; Yoon et al, ; Baker et al, ). Soft landing has also been accomplished using various pulsed ionization methods including matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) (Rader et al, ), laser ablation/vaporization (Honea et al, ; Messerli et al, ; Pauwels et al, ; Klingeler et al, ; Heiz & Bullock, ; Melinon et al, ; Kemper et al, ; Mitsui et al, ; Winans et al, ; Cattaneo et al, ; Kaden et al, ; Davila et al, ; Tournus et al, ; Wepasnick et al, ; Woodward et al, ), the pulsed arc cluster ion source (PACIS) (Siekmann et al,…”

Poly(methyl methacrylate) composites with size-selected silver nanoparticles fabricated using cluster beam technique

“…35 The electrostatic quadrupole mass selector (EQMS) similar to that described in ref. 36 was used for size separation of the clusters prior the deposition. Only charged particles were selected and steered toward deposition that was carried out in the vacuum with a background pressure of approximately 5 3 10 28 mbar.…”

Comparative study of antibacterial properties of polystyrene films with TiOx and Cu nanoparticles fabricated using cluster beam technique

“…Thereafter, they are collimated into a beam by the conical-shaped skimmer and steered into the electrostatic quadrupole mass selector. The clusters in the source are formed in different sizes; a significant fraction of them is ionized, which allows for mass (size) selection by electrostatic fields as earlier described in [ 22 ]. For the current experiments particles of mean diameter of approximately 15 nm are used.…”