The aim of this thesis is a systematic study of physical properties of magnetic multilayered nanostructures. Namely it include multilayered spin valves NiFe/Cu/Co with magnetic anisotropy iduced by magnetic field applied during the deposition. Induced magnetic anisotropy influences exchange interactions between magnetic layers and so it gives the possibility to control magnetic properties of nanolayers. This is important for applications in MRAM, magnetoresistive read heads and spin-transfer-torque devices. Magnetooptic spectroscopy and Kerr effect hysteresis loop measurement were used as effective probe techniques. Secondly we examinated Ar3+ rf sputtering influence on multilayer interface quality level. We found out, that Ar3+ irradiation during deposition process has a possitive effect on interface quality.

This thesis addresses the metal nanocluster growth process on prepatterned substrates, the development of atomistic simulation method with respect to an acceleration of the atomistic transition states, and the continuum model of the ion-beam inducing semiconductor surface pattern formation mechanism. Experimentally, highly ordered Ag nanocluster structures have been grown on pre-patterned amorphous SiO^2 surfaces by oblique angle physical vapor deposition at room temperature. Despite the small undulation of the rippled surface, the stripe-like Ag nanoclusters are very pronounced, reproducible and well-separated. The first topic is the investigation of this growth process with a continuum theoretical approach to the surface gas condensation as well as an atomistic cluster growth model. The atomistic simulation model is a lattice-based kinetic Monte-Carlo (KMC) method using a combination of a simplified inter-atomic potential and experimental transition barriers taken from the literature. An effective transition event classification method is introduced which allows a boost factor of several thousand compared to a traditional KMC approach, thus allowing experimental time scales to be modeled. The simulation predicts a low sticking probability for the arriving atoms, millisecond order lifetimes for single Ag monomers and ≈1 nm square surface migration ranges of Ag monomers. The simulations give excellent reproduction of the experimentally observed nanocluster growth patterns. The second topic specifies the acceleration scheme utilized in the metallic cluster growth model. Concerning the atomistic movements, a classical harmonic transition state theory is considered and applied in discrete lattice cells with hierarchical transition levels. The model results in an effective reduction of KMC simulation steps by utilizing a classification scheme of transition levels for thermally activated atomistic diffusion processes. Thermally activated atomistic movements are considered as local transition events constrained in potential energy wells over certain local time periods. These processes are represented by Markov chains of multi-dimensional Boolean valued functions in three dimensional lattice space. The events inhibited by the barriers under a certain level are regarded as thermal fluctuations of the canonical ensemble and accepted freely. Consequently, the fluctuating system evolution process is implemented as a Markov chain of equivalence class objects. It is shown that the process can be characterized by the acceptance of metastable local transitions. The method is applied to a problem of Au and Ag cluster growth on a rippled surface. The simulation predicts the existence of a morphology dependent transition time limit from a local metastable to stable state for subsequent cluster growth by accretion. The third topic is the formation of ripple structures on ion bombarded semiconductor surfaces treated in the first topic as the prepatterned substrate of the metallic deposition. This intriguing phenomenon has been known since the 1960\'s and various theoretical approaches have been explored. These previous models are discussed and a new non-linear model is formulated, based on the local atomic flow and associated density change in the near surface region. Within this framework ripple structures are shown to form without the necessity to invoke surface diffusion or large sputtering as important mechanisms. The model can also be extended to the case where sputtering is important and it is shown that in this case, certain \\lq magic\' angles can occur at which the ripple patterns are most clearly defined. The results including some analytic solutions of the nonlinear equation of motions are in very good agreement with experimental observation.

In 2012 the HZDR, and in consequence also the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research (IIM) including its Ion Beam Center (IBC), has undergone a scientific evaluation. The evaluation committee composed of the Scientific Advisory Board and numerous external experts in our field of research concluded that “the overall quality of the scientific work is excellent”, that “there are an impressive number of young scientists working enthusiastically on a variety of high-level projects” and that “the choice of these projects represents a clear underlying strategy and vision”. We feel honored and are proud that the external view on our scientific achievements is that extraordinary. In view of this outstanding result we would like to express our gratitude to all our staff members for their commitment and efforts! In the past year, we continued our integration into the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers (HGF) with our Institute mostly active in the research area “Matter”, but also involved in a number of activities in the research area “Energy”. In this respect, many consultations were held with the Helmholtz centers contributing to common research areas to precisely define the role we will play in the newly established HGF program “From Matter to Materials and Life” (see schematic below). Our IBC has been recognized as a large-scale user facility for ion beam analysis and modification of materials, i.e., specializing on materials science. In particular, the IBC plays a prominent role in the recently approved Helmholtz Energy Materials Characterization Platform (HEMCP), which mainly concentrates on the development of dedicated analytical tools for the characterization of materials required for future energy technologies. The successes achieved by the IBC allows us to invest 7200 k€ to further improve and strengthen the ion beam capabilities at the Institute. In addition to this infrastructure-related grant, we were also successful in our funding application for the establishment of the International Helmholtz Research School for Nanoelectronic Networks (IHRS NANONET), aiming at promoting the next generation of leading scientists in the field of nanoelectronics. The IHRS NANONET is coordinated by our Institute and offers a well-structured PhD program to outstanding students of all nationalities with emphasis on interdisciplinary research and comprehensive training in technical and professional skills.

The year 2013 was the third year of HZDR as a member of the Helmholtz Association (HGF), and we have made progress of integrating ourselves into this research environment of national Research centers. In particular, we were preparing for the evaluation in the framework of the so-called program oriented funding (POF), which will hopefully provide us with a stable funding for the next five years (2015 – 2019). In particular, last fall we have submitted a large proposal in collaboration with several other research centers. The actual evaluation will take place this spring. Most of our activities are assigned to the program “From Matter to Materials and Life” (within the research area “Matter”). A large fraction of this program is related to the operation of large-scale research infrastructures (or user facilities), one of which is our Ion Beam Center (IBC). The second large part of our research is labelled “in-house research”, reflecting the work driven through our researchers without external users, but still mostly utilizing our large-scale facilities such as the IBC, and, to a lesser extent, the free-electron laser. Our in-house research is performed in three so-called research themes, as depicted in the schematic below. What is missing there for simplicity is a small part of our activities in the program “Nuclear Waste Management and Safety” (within the research area “Energy”).

This past year 2014 was the year when we finally completely arrived as a “full member” in the Helmholtz Association. This is related to the successfully passed research evaluation in the framework of the Program Oriented Funding (POF), which will give us a stable and predictable funding for the next five years (2015 – 2019). This is particularly true for our large-scale user facilities, like the Ion Beam Center (IBC) and the electron accelerator ELBE with the free-electron laser. Most of our activities are assigned to the program “From Matter to Materials and Life” within the research area “Matter”, in cooperation with several other German Helmholtz Centers. Our in-house research is performed in three so-called research themes, as depicted in the schematic below. What is missing there for simplicity is a small part of our activities in the program “Nuclear Waste Management and Safety” within the research area “Energy”. Our research and facilities were well appreciated by the evaluation committee, who made the following judgement about the Ion Beam Center: “The Ion Beam Centre (IBC) of HZDR is an internationally leading ion-beam facility (with ion energies ranging from several eV to several tens of MeV). At both the national and international level it is one of the key players and is unique in its kind. The synergy between forefront research and user service has been leading to a very good publication output for both in-house research and user research. … The very broad range of beam energies, the versatility of techniques and applications – both for ion beam modification of materials and for ion-beam analysis – makes the IBC unique in its kind. … The strength of IBC is that its activities are based on a combination of forefront research and user service, which mutually interact in synergy and strengthen one another. In turn, this synergy has been leading to a very good publication output for both in-house research and user research.” In order to make our Annual Report a bit more compact, we have decided to include only four full journal papers this year. This was also triggered by the fact that our publication activities have turned out be become more diverse, in more diverse journals than in the past, and often through longer papers, which would be too long to reprint them here. However, apart from the constantly quantitatively high publication output, we succeeded to publish in excellent journals such as Nature Physics, Nano Letters and Physical Review Letters, in fields as diverse as ion beam physics, magnetism and terahertz spectroscopy. Two of our scientists, Dr. Artur Erbe and Dr. Alexej Pashkin obtained their Habilitation in 2014, both at University of Konstanz. For the first time, we are hosting an Emmy Noether Young Investigator Group funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG); the group works on the hot topic of magnonics and is headed by Dr. Helmut Schultheiß. Finally we would like to cordially thank all partners, friends, and organizations who supported our progress in 2014. Special thanks are due to the Executive Board of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, the Minister of Science and Arts of the Free State of Saxony, and the Minister of Education and Research of the Federal Government of Germany. Numerous partners from universities, industry and research institutes all around the world contributed essentially, and play a crucial role for the further development of the institute. Last but not least, the directors would like to thank again all IIM staff for their efforts and excellent contributions in 2014.

In dieser Arbeit wurde eine systematische Untersuchung der Abscheidung von TiO2 mittels reaktiver Ionenstrahlzerstäubung von einem metallischen Ti-Target sowie von einem keramischen TiO2-Target durchgeführt. Der Einfluss der Prozessparameter, d.h. der Ionensorte, der Ionenenergie, des Einfalls- und Emissionswinkels sowie des Targetmaterials, auf die Eigenschaften der Sekundärteilchen und der TiO2-Schichten wurde untersucht. Der Ionenstrahl wurde mit einer Faradaysonde, einem Gegenfeldanalysator und einem energieselektiven Massenspektrometer charakterisiert. Das Massenspektrometer wurde auch zur Untersuchung der Massen- und Energieverteilung der Sekundärionen eingesetzt. Mit SDTrimSP simulierte Energieverteilungen der Sekundärteilchen zeigten eine gute Übereinstimmung mit den gemessenen Energieverteilungen der Sekundärionen. Die TiO2-Schichten wurden mittels Ellipsometrie, Röntgendiffraktometrie, -reflektometrie, Rutherford-Rückstreu-Spektrometrie und Rasterkraftmikroskopie untersucht. Eine Verringerung des Streuwinkel führte zu einer Erhöhung der Sekundärteilchenenergien, resultierend daraus wurde eine verstärkte Implantation von Primärteilchen, eine Oberflächenglättung sowie eine systematischen Änderung der Massendichte und folglich der optischen Eigenschaften beobachtet. Die Ionenenergie und das Targetmaterial spielten dabei eine untergeordnete Rolle. / A systematic investigation of the reactive ion beam sputter deposition of TiO2 from a metallic Ti and a ceramic TiO2 target was performed. The influence of the process parameters, i.e. the ion species, ion energy, ion incidence angle, emission angle, and the target material, on the properties of the secondary particles and the TiO2 films was investigated. The ion beam was characterized with a Faraday probe, a retarding potential analyzer, and an energy-selective mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer was also used to determine the mass and energy distribution of the secondary ions. The experimentally obtained energy distributions were compared to the energy distributions of the secondary particles that were simulated with SDTrimSP. A good agreement was found. The TiO2 films were investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, and atomic force microscopy. Reducing the scattering angle lead to an increase of the secondary particle energies, resulting in an enhanced implantation of primary particles, surface smoothing, and a systematic change of the mass density and consequently of the optical properties. The ion energy and the target material had a minor influence.

The structural evolution of carbon:transition metal (C:TM) nanocomposite thin films is investigated in two regimes: (i) surface diffusion governed regime occurring during the film growth and (ii) bulk diffusion dominated regime occurring during the post-deposition thermal annealing. C:V, C:Co, and C:Cu nanocomposite films were grown by ion beam co-sputtering. The influence of the metal type, metal content (15-40 at.%), substrate temperature (RT-500°C), and annealing temperature (300-700°C) on the structure and morphology of the composite is studied by the means of elastic recoil detection analysis, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Vanadium (copper) is in carbidic (metallic) state in the whole temperature range of the study. In contrast, cobalt is in carbidic state up to 300°C and becomes metallic at higher growth temperatures. The nanoparticles in C:V films exhibit a globular shape at RT-500°C, whereas in C:Co and C:Cu films a growth transition from globular to elongated nanoparticles occurs around 300°C. The comparison of the Raman spectroscopy results from carbon reference and C:TM thin films shows that the presence of the metal during growth significantly enhances the formation of sixfold ring carbon clusters at temperatures as low as RT. The enhancement occurs independently of the nanoparticle size, shape, and phase, and metal content, and is related to processes taking place on the nanoparticle surface of the growing film rather than in the bulk. The degree of enhancement depends on the TM type and content. Post-deposition annealing of C:Co and C:Cu films at 700°C causes the metal segregation at the film surface, while no changes upon annealing occur in C:V films. In addition, cobalt brings about the carbon graphitization by a dissolution-diffusion-precipitation mechanism, similar to the metal-mediated crystallization of amorphous silicon or germanium. No graphitization upon annealing occurs in C:V, C:Cu, and carbon reference films. / Die Strukturentwicklung in Kohlenstoff-Übergangsmetall-Nanokompositschichten wird in zwei Bereichen untersucht: (i) im oberflächendiffusionsgesteuerten Bereich während des Schichtwachstums und (ii) im bulkdiffusionsdominierten Bereich während des nachträglichen Temperns. C:V, C:Co und C:Cu Nanokompositschichten wurden durch Ionenstrahl Co-Sputtern hergestellt. Der Einfluss des Metalltyps, des Metallgehalts (15-40 at.%), der Substrattemperatur (RT-500°C) und der Temperatur beim Tempern (300-700°C) auf die Struktur und Morphologie des Komposits wird mittels elastischer Rückstoßteilchen-Analyse, Röntgenbeugung, Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie und Ramanspektroskopie untersucht. Vanadium (Kupfer) ist im gesamten Temperaturbereich der Studie in karbidischem (metallischen) Zustand. Im Gegensatz dazu befindet sich Kobalt bis zu einer Temperatur von 300°C in karbidischem Zustand und wird bei höheren Abscheidetemperaturen metallisch. Die Nanopartikel in C:V Filmen besitzen eine runde Form im Temperaturbereich von RT bis 500°C wohingegen bei den C:Co und C:Cu Filmen ein Übergang von runden zu länglichen Partikeln bei etwa 300°C zu beobachten ist. Der Vergleich der Ramanspektroskopieresultate der Kohlenstoffreferenzproben und der Nanokompositschichten zeigt, dass die Anwesenheit des Metalls während des Schichtwachstums die Bildung von sechsatomigen Kohlenstoffringclustern bei Temperaturen so niedrig wie Raumtemperatur deutlich fördert. Die Erhöhung tritt unabhängig von der Partikelgröße, -form und phase und unabhängig vom Metallgehalt auf, und betrifft eher Prozesse, die auf der Oberfläche der Nanopartikel während des Schichtwachstums stattfinden als im Bulk. Der Grad der Erhöhung hängt vom Metalltyp und -gehalt ab. Nachträgliches Tempern der C:Co und C:Cu Filme bei 700°C führt zur Segregation des Metalls an der Schichtoberfläche während in den C:V Filmen keine Veränderungen durch das Tempern auftreten. Des weiteren kommt es in den C:Co Filmen zur Graphitisierung des Kohlenstoffs durch einen „Lösungs-Diffusions-Ablagerungs“ Mechanismus ähnlich der metallvermittelten Kristallisierung in amorphem Silizium und Germanium. In den C:V, C:Cu und Kohlenstoffreferenzfilmen findet keine Graphitisierung während des Temperns statt.

In the last years, there is a rise of interest in investigation and fabrication of nanometer sized magnetic structures due to their various applications (e.g. for data storage or micro sensors). Over the last several decades ion beam implantation became an important tool for the modification of materials and in particular for the manipulation of magnetic properties. Nanopatterning and implantation can be done simultaneously using focused-ion beam (FIB) techniques. FIB implantation and standard ion implantation differ in their beam current densities by 7 orders of magnitude. This difference can strongly influence the structural and magnetic properties, e.g. due to a rise of the local temperature in the sample during ion implantation. In previous investigations both types of implantation techniques were studied separately. The aim of the current research was to compare both implantation techniques in terms of structural changes and changes in magnetic properties using the same material system. Moreover, to separate any possible annealing effects from implantation ones, the influence of temperature on the structural and magnetic properties were additionally investigated. For the current study a model material system which is widely used for industrial applications was chosen: a 50 nm thick non-ordered nano-crystalline permalloy (Ni81Fe19) film grown on a SiO2 buffer layer based onto a (100)-oriented Si substrate. The permalloy films were implanted with a 30 keV Ga+ ion beam; and also a series of as-deposited permalloy films were annealed in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber. Several investigation techniques were applied to study the film structure and composition, and were mostly based on non-destructive X-ray investigation techniques, which are the primary focus of this work. Besides X-ray diffraction (XRD), providing the long-range order crystal structural information, extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements to probe the local structure were performed. Moreover, the film thickness, surface roughness, and interface roughness were obtained from the X-ray reflectivity (XRR) measurements. Additionally cross-sectional transmission electron microscope (XTEM) imaging was used for local structural characterizations. The Ga depth distribution of the samples implanted with a standard ion implanter was measured by the use of Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and Rutherford backscattering (RBS), and was compared with theoretical TRIDYN calculation. The magnetic properties were characterized via polar magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) measurements at room temperature. It was shown that both implantation techniques lead to a further material crystallization of the partially amorphous permalloy material (i.e. to an increase of the amount of the crystalline material), to a crystallite growth and to a material texturing towards the (111) direction. For low ion fluences a strong increase of the amount of the crystalline material was observed, while for high ion fluences this rise is much weaker. At low ion fluences XTEM images show small isolated crystallites, while for high ones the crystallites start to grow through the entire film. The EXAFS analysis shows that both Ni and Ga atom surroundings have a perfect near-order coordination corresponding to an fcc symmetry. The lattice parameter for both implantation techniques increases with increasing ion fluence according to the same linear law. The lattice parameters obtained from the EXAFS measurements for both implantation types are in a good agreement with the results obtained from the XRD measurements. Grazing incidence XRD (GIXRD) measurements of the samples implanted with a standard ion implanter show an increasing value of microstrain with increasing ion fluence (i.e. the lattice parameter variation is increasing with fluence). Both types of implantation result in an increase of the surface and the interface roughness and demonstrate a decrease of the saturation polarization with increasing ion fluence. From the obtained results it follows that FIB and standard ion implantation influence structure and magnetic properties in a similar way: both lead to a material crystallization, crystallite growth, texturing and decrease of the saturation polarization with increasing ion fluence. A further crystallization of the highly defective nano-crystalline material can be simply understood as a result of exchange processes induced by the energy transferred to the system during the ion implantation. The decrease of the saturation polarization of the implanted samples is mainly attributed to the simple presence of the Ga atoms on the lattice sites of the permalloy film itself. For the annealed samples more complex results were found. The corresponding results can be separated into two temperature regimes: into low (≤400°C) and high (>400°C) temperatures. Similar to the implanted samples, annealing results in a material crystallization with large crystallites growing through the entire film and in a material texturing towards the (111) direction. The EXAFS analysis shows a perfect near-order coordination corresponding to an fcc symmetry. The lattice parameter of the annealed samples slightly decreases at low annealing temperatures, reaches its minimum at about ~400°C and slightly rises at higher ones. From the GIXRD measurements it can be observed that the permalloy material at temperatures above >400°C reaches its strain-free state. On the other hand, the film roughness increases with increasing annealing temperature and a de-wetting of the film is observed at high annealing temperatures. Regardless of the material crystallization and texturing, the samples annealed at low temperatures demonstrate no change in saturation polarization, while at high temperatures a rise by approximately ~15% at 800°C was observed. The rise of the saturation polarization at high annealing temperatures is attributed to the de-wetting effect.

Hard gold thin films and coatings are widely used in electronics as an effective material to reduce the friction and wear of relatively less expensive electrically conductive materials while simultaneously seeking to provide oxidation resistance and stable sliding electrical contact resistance (ECR). The main focus of this dissertation was to synthesize nanocrystalline Au films with grain structures capable of remaining stable during thermal exposure and under sliding electrical contact stress and the passing of electrical current. Here we have utilized a physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique, electron beam evaporation, to synthesize Au films modified by ion implantation and codeposited ZnO hardened Au nanocomposites. Simultaneous friction and ECR experiments of low fluence (< 1x10^17 cm^-2) He and Ar ion implanted Au films showed reduction in friction coefficients from ~1.5 to ~0.5 and specific wear rates from ~4x10^-3 to ~6x10^-5 mm^3/N·m versus as-deposited Au films without significant change in sliding ECR (~16 mΩ). Subsurface microstructural changes of He implanted films due to tribological stress were analyzed via site-specific cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and revealed the formation of nanocrystalline grains for low energy (22.5 keV) implantation conditions as well as the growth and redistribution of cavities. Nanoindentation hardness results revealed an increase from 0.84 GPa for as-deposited Au to ~1.77 GPa for Au uniformly implanted with 1 at% He. These strength increases are correlated with an Orowan hardening mechanism that increases proportionally to (He concentration)1/3. Au-ZnO nanocomposite films in the oxide dilute regime (< 5 vol% ZnO) were investigated for low temperature aging stability in friction and ECR. Annealing at 250 °C for 24 hours Au-(2 vol%)ZnO retained a friction coefficient comparable to commercial Ni hardened Au of ~ 0.3 and sliding ECR values of ~35 mΩ. Nanoindentation hardness increases of these films (~2.6 GPa for 5 vol% ZnO) are correlated to microstructure via high resolution TEM and scanning electron microscope cross-sections to both Hall-Petch and Orowan strengthening mechanisms. Also presented is a correlation between electrical resistivity and grain size in the oxide dilute range based on the Mayadas-Shatzkes (M-S) electron scattering model. Using the M-S model in combination with a model describing solute drag stabilized grain growth kinetics we present a new technique to probe grain boundary mobility and thermal stability from in-situ electrical resistivity measurements during annealing experiments.

Das reaktiv gesteuerte Ionenstrahlätzen von optischen Aluminiumoberflächen bietet einen vielversprechenden Prozessansatz, um Formfehlerkorrektur, Glättung periodischer Drehstrukturen und die Reduzierung von Rauheitsmerkmalen im Ortsfrequenzbereich der Mikrorauheit in einer Technologie zu kombinieren. Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die experimentelle Analyse der niederenergetischen Ionenbestrahlung von einkorn-diamantgedrehten, technischen Aluminiumlegierungen RSA Al6061 und RSA Al905. Die Ionenstrahlbearbeitung unter Verwendung der Prozessgase Sauerstoff und Stickstoff ermöglicht eine direkte Oberflächenformfehlerkorrektur bis zu 1 µm Bearbeitungstiefe unter Beibehaltung der Ausgangsrauheit. Die sich aus dem vorangegangenen Formgebungsverfahren, dem Einkorn-diamantdrehen, ergebende Drehmarkenstruktur schränkt allerdings häufig die Anwendbarkeit dieser Spiegeloberflächen im kurzwelligen Spektralbereich ein. Daher wurde im Rahmen dieser Arbeit ein zweistufiger Prozessablauf entwickelt, um eine weitere Verbesserung der Oberflächenrauheit zu erreichen. Durch die Ionenstrahl-Planarisierungstechnik unter Verwendung einer Opferschicht werden die im hohen Ortsfrequenzbereich liegenden Drehmarken erfolgreich um insgesamt 82 % reduziert. Eine Kombination mit anschließender, direkter Ionenstrahlglättung zur nachfolgenden Verbesserung der Mikrorauigkeit wird vorgestellt. Um die Prozessführung in einem industrietauglichen Rahmen zu etablieren, wurden die experimentellen Untersuchungen mit einer 13,56 MHz betriebenen Hochfrequenz-Ionenquelle durchgeführt, konnten aber auch erfolgreich auf eine Breitstrahl-Ionenquelle vom Typ Kaufman übertragen werden.:Bibliographische Beschreibung iv Danksagung vi Table of Contents viii 1 Introduction 1 2 Surface engineering with energetic ions 8 2.1 Ion target interactions during ion beam erosion 8 2.2 Ion beam finishing methods 10 2.2.1 Ion beam figuring 11 2.2.2 Ion beam planarization 12 2.2.3 Ion beam smoothing 14 3 Experimental set-up and analytical methods 15 3.1 Experimental set-up 15 3.2 Kaufman-type broad beam ion source 18 3.3 Materials 19 3.3.1 Aluminium alloy materials 19 3.3.2 Photoresist materials as planarization layer 21 3.4 Surface topography error regimes 22 3.5 Analytical Methods 23 3.5.1 Analysis of surface roughness 23 3.5.1.1 White light interferometry (WLI) 23 3.5.1.2 Atomic force microscopy (AFM) 25 3.5.1.3 Power spectral density (PSD) analysis 27 3.5.2 Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) 29 3.5.3 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) 31 3.5.4 Time of flight- secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) 32 3.5.5 Reflectometry 34 3.5.6 Photoresist composition 35 3.5.6.1 Attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) 35 3.5.6.2 Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) 36 3.5.6.3 Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) 38 3.5.6.4 Gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS) 39 4 Surface engineering by reactive ion beam etching 41 4.1 Reactive ion beam etching with nitrogen 41 4.1.1 Dependence of the aluminium alloy composition 42 4.1.2 Ion beam etching of Al905 44 4.2 Local smoothing by reactive ion beam etching 50 4.2.1 Local surface error slope dependent sputter erosion 51 4.2.2 RIBE O2 direct smoothing 56 4.2.2.1 Oxygen finishing at 1.5 keV 56 4.2.2.2 Oxygen finishing at 0.6 keV 62 4.3 Conclusions 66 5 Technological aspects on photoresist preparation for ion beam planarization 69 5.1 Selection of a suitable photoresist 69 5.2 Photoresist application steps 71 5.2.1 DUV exposure of the photoresist layer 72 5.2.2 Postbake: the influence of the amount of organic solvent 73 5.2.3 Postbake: the influence of the baking temperature 74 5.3 Influence of process gas composition 77 5.3.1 Influence on roughness evolution during ion beam irradiation of the photoresist layer 78 5.3.2 Dependency of the process gas on the selectivity 79 5.4 Influence of the ion energy on the selectivity 80 5.5 Ion beam irradiation of the photoresist layer with nitrogen at different material removal depths 81 5.6 Conclusions 82 6 Ion beam planarization of optical aluminium surfaces RSA Al6061 and RSA Al905 84 6.1 Photoresist application on SPDT aluminium alloys 84 6.2 Ion beam planarization 85 6.2.1 Iterative nitrogen processing of RSA Al905 86 6.2.2 Iterative nitrogen processing of RSA Al6061 90 6.3 Ion beam direct smoothing 93 6.3.1 RIBE O2 smoothing of RSA Al905 93 6.3.2 RIBE O2 smoothing of RSA Al6061 97 6.4 Conclusions 101 7 Process transfer to a Kaufman-type broad beam ion source 103 7.1 RIBE machining investigations on RSA Al905 103 7.2 Ion beam planarization of RSA Al6061 106 7.3 Ion beam incidence angle dependent sputtering 107 7.4 Conclusions 113 8 Summary 115 9 Conclusions and Outlook 123 A List of abbreviations 127 B Selected properties of photoresist materials 129 References 131 / Reactively driven ion beam etching of optical aluminium surfaces provides a promising process route to combine figure error correction, smoothing of periodically turning structures and roughness features situated in the microroughness regime within one technology. This thesis focuses on experimental analysis of low-energy ion beam irradiation on single-point diamond turned technical aluminium alloys RSA Al6061 and RSA Al905. Reactively driven ion beam machining using oxygen and nitrogen process gases enables the direct surface error correction up to 1 µm machining depth while preserving the initial roughness. However, the periodic turning mark structures, which result from preliminary device shaping by single-point diamond turning, often limit the applicability of mirror surfaces in the short-periodic spectral range. Hence, during this work a two-step process route was developed to attain further improvement of the surface roughness. Within the ion beam planarization technique with the aid of a sacrificial layer, the turning marks situated in the high spatial frequency range are successfully reduced by overall 82 %. A combination with subsequently applied direct ion beam smoothing procedure to perform a subsequent improvement of the microroughness is presented. In order to establish the process control in an industrial framework, the experimental investigations were performed using a 13.56 MHz radio frequency ion source, but the developed process routes are also successfully transferred to a broad-beam Kaufman-type ion source.:Bibliographische Beschreibung iv Danksagung vi Table of Contents viii 1 Introduction 1 2 Surface engineering with energetic ions 8 2.1 Ion target interactions during ion beam erosion 8 2.2 Ion beam finishing methods 10 2.2.1 Ion beam figuring 11 2.2.2 Ion beam planarization 12 2.2.3 Ion beam smoothing 14 3 Experimental set-up and analytical methods 15 3.1 Experimental set-up 15 3.2 Kaufman-type broad beam ion source 18 3.3 Materials 19 3.3.1 Aluminium alloy materials 19 3.3.2 Photoresist materials as planarization layer 21 3.4 Surface topography error regimes 22 3.5 Analytical Methods 23 3.5.1 Analysis of surface roughness 23 3.5.1.1 White light interferometry (WLI) 23 3.5.1.2 Atomic force microscopy (AFM) 25 3.5.1.3 Power spectral density (PSD) analysis 27 3.5.2 Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) 29 3.5.3 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) 31 3.5.4 Time of flight- secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) 32 3.5.5 Reflectometry 34 3.5.6 Photoresist composition 35 3.5.6.1 Attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) 35 3.5.6.2 Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) 36 3.5.6.3 Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) 38 3.5.6.4 Gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS) 39 4 Surface engineering by reactive ion beam etching 41 4.1 Reactive ion beam etching with nitrogen 41 4.1.1 Dependence of the aluminium alloy composition 42 4.1.2 Ion beam etching of Al905 44 4.2 Local smoothing by reactive ion beam etching 50 4.2.1 Local surface error slope dependent sputter erosion 51 4.2.2 RIBE O2 direct smoothing 56 4.2.2.1 Oxygen finishing at 1.5 keV 56 4.2.2.2 Oxygen finishing at 0.6 keV 62 4.3 Conclusions 66 5 Technological aspects on photoresist preparation for ion beam planarization 69 5.1 Selection of a suitable photoresist 69 5.2 Photoresist application steps 71 5.2.1 DUV exposure of the photoresist layer 72 5.2.2 Postbake: the influence of the amount of organic solvent 73 5.2.3 Postbake: the influence of the baking temperature 74 5.3 Influence of process gas composition 77 5.3.1 Influence on roughness evolution during ion beam irradiation of the photoresist layer 78 5.3.2 Dependency of the process gas on the selectivity 79 5.4 Influence of the ion energy on the selectivity 80 5.5 Ion beam irradiation of the photoresist layer with nitrogen at different material removal depths 81 5.6 Conclusions 82 6 Ion beam planarization of optical aluminium surfaces RSA Al6061 and RSA Al905 84 6.1 Photoresist application on SPDT aluminium alloys 84 6.2 Ion beam planarization 85 6.2.1 Iterative nitrogen processing of RSA Al905 86 6.2.2 Iterative nitrogen processing of RSA Al6061 90 6.3 Ion beam direct smoothing 93 6.3.1 RIBE O2 smoothing of RSA Al905 93 6.3.2 RIBE O2 smoothing of RSA Al6061 97 6.4 Conclusions 101 7 Process transfer to a Kaufman-type broad beam ion source 103 7.1 RIBE machining investigations on RSA Al905 103 7.2 Ion beam planarization of RSA Al6061 106 7.3 Ion beam incidence angle dependent sputtering 107 7.4 Conclusions 113 8 Summary 115 9 Conclusions and Outlook 123 A List of abbreviations 127 B Selected properties of photoresist materials 129 References 131