MICROSTRUCTURE OF NIOBIUM FILMS ORIENTED BY NON-NORMAL INCIDENCE ION BOMBARDMENT DURING GROWTH.

Abstract

We demonstrate that non-normal incidence ion bombardment applied during thin film growth has a pronounced alignment effect on crystallographic orientation. Restricted fiber texture is achieved in Nb films deposited at room temperature onto amorphous silica substrates with simultaneous 200 eV Ar** plus ion bombardment at 20 degrees from glancing angle. Xray pole figure measurements and transmission electron diffraction show that the alignment direction is a channeling direction for the incident ions between (110) planes. The degree of alignment increases linearly with the fraction resputtered by the ion beam. Recommendations are given for optimizing this ion beam orientation effect.