CLUSTER-SOLID INTERACTION EXPERIMENTS

Experiments to investigate the interaction of clusters with solids include a number of different types of observations, but with very little systematic study in most of them. In rough order of increasing cluster energy, experiments with non-metallic clusters involve surface cleaning, smoothing of surface topography, sputter erosion, crystallographic damage and impurity doping. The results of these experiments are different than if individual atoms of equivalent velocity had been incident on the solid. Studies of the impingement of metallic clusters on solids have been motivated primarily by interests in the deposition of thin films. The suggested advantages of clusters in this role are only beginning to be established experimentally.