Flexible Laser Ion Sources for Surface Modification

Laser ion sources have significant advantages over other ion sources for ion implantation. Not only do lasers produce much greater numbers of ions of more types of materials (essentially any solid) than other ion sources, they also produce much higher charge states and a higher fraction of higher charge-state ions (better charge-state distribution). This results in much greater depth of implantation after the ions are electrostatically accelerated. The laser used for creating the ions can also be used for micropatterning or annealing the substrate surface. A series of surface modifications can be imagined, performed in the same vacuum chamber, with the surface being patterned, implanted, coated with several different materials, or laser annealed in any given order.