Proceedings SVC Annual Conference, In press, 2001.

At the University of Virginia, Groves and others have developed a unique physical vapor deposition (PVD) system, directed vapor deposition (DVD), for the rapid, efficient production of a wide range of film compositions and atomic structures. The design of this technology has recently been enhanced in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology (FEP). As the result of the cooperation with FEP, a new plasma assisted DVD system has been created that can control thick and thin film composition and structure using a novel combination of four process technology components: electron beam evaporation; low-vacuum, flowing-gas vapor transport; high-density gas and vapor plasma activation; and pulsed or constant substrate biasing. This short article will describe the new tool's design and highlight initial material processing results.