Gas Cluster Ion Beam (GCIB) Application System

About GCIB Application system

Custom Solutions for Nanoscale Processing and Surface Modification

These custom application system are designed and built to customer requirements, making the most of gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) source capabilities. The system achieves non-contact, dry-process, low-temperature, and low-damage nano-level smoothing.

GCIB Characteristics and Role

This system uses gas cluster ion beams (GCIB) to perform smoothing and etching of substrate surfaces on a scanning stage. It delivers the following results that conventional processing techniques cannot readily achieve.

Damage-free processing through ultra-low energy irradiation
Ultra-smooth surfaces (Ra in the range of several nanometers) through lateral sputtering
High-quality thin film formation and surface modification

System Features

Custom Solutions Through Flexible Design

We incorporate customer requirements as much as possible from the design phase, creating custom-built research and mass-production equipment tailored exclusively to each customer. The stage is custom-built to suit the object based on factors such as substrate size, sample weight, rotation mechanism, and angle of incidence, with X-Y-Z adjustment capability.

Highly Uniform, Clean Processing with Contamination Prevention

Because the gas cluster ion generation chamber and the beam irradiation chamber are separate, the irradiation atmosphere is maintained at a high vacuum in the 10⁻³Pa range. This enables highly uniform processing without causing contamination or plasma damage to the object surface.

Compatibility with Wide Range of Process Gas and Temperature

Cluster beam irradiation with reactive gases such as N₂, O₂, CO₂, SF₆, CF₄, CHF₃, and B₂H₆ is available depending on object processing conditions. In addition, processing at substrate surface temperatures below 100°C is also achieved.

Low-Damage Processing, Nano-Level Smoothing, and Patented Technology

The multi-body collision effect of cluster ions (e.g., 8keV/2000 atoms per cluster=4eV) delivers low-damage processing. Yoshikawa Trading’s patented magnetic field electrode removes non-cluster species such as monatomic ions to produce a high-purity beam.

GCIB System Example

Internal Chamber Dimensions	Appx. 1200W × 990D × 900H
Exhaust System	2 TMPs, ultimate vacuum 1×10⁻⁴Pa or below (pump-down to 5×10⁻⁴Pa: 3 hours or more)
Stage	Up to 5-axis capability (X, Y, Z, θ, rotation), 8-inch wafer compatible, max. 10kg
Example Components	GCIB source (with monomer ion removal and neutralization), Faraday cup, substrate shutter