Plasma deposition of boron films with high growth rate and efficiency using carborane

The injection of carborane (C2B10H12) on the PISCES-B linear plasma device has been used to produce boron containing films on various target species. Film growth rates achieved are extremely high (up to 30 nm/s) compared to those typically found for glow discharges (∼0.01 nm/s). For low-Z target materials (C and Al) the film production is highly efficient, with the boron film growth rate comparable to the incident ion flux and the injection rate of boron atoms. The boron to carbon ratio is 3.0–3.6 for these films. Similarly high growth rates (∼10 nm/s) are obtained with high-Z target (W), but with lower deposition efficiency and higher B/C film ratio. The high film growth rate/efficiency are apparently linked to the high degree of carborane ionization and dissociation caused by the ∼40 eV PISCES-B plasma, compared with T<1 eV plasmas of glow discharges. This technique opens the possibility of continuously producing protective B films in thermonuclear devices where net erosion rates approach 10 nm/s.