Flexible laser ion sources for surface modification

Metal plasma ion immersion implantation has enormously increased the available selection by adding all conductive solid materials and the ability to trade off the amount of material added to the surface and the energy of ions adhering that material to the surface. Most metal plasma implantation has used vacuum arc ion sources. A further increase in flexibility can be added by the use of laser ion sources, which can create high current plasmas of all solid materials and offer an even finer trade-off between plasma ionization spectrum and current. Additionally, with laser ion sources, the laser can be used to micropattern or anneal the surface. The laser ion implantation facility (LIIF) at the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences is designed to study laser ion implantation techniques for industrial application. LIIF is based on a Lambda Physik LPX 315i industrial excimer laser, which produces ≤0.8 J, 20 ns pulses at ≤100 Hz.