Electron Beam Evaporation Deposition

This chapter introduces electron beam evaporation deposition, including the principle, equipments for electron beam evaporation, application, and so on. It explains some techniques for the characterization of thin films and potential applications of the electron beam technique. The chapter describes the e-type electron gun, which is mainly used for thin film deposition. The greatest advantage of the electron beam evaporation technique is the direct heating of the evaporant material in which the highest temperature of the evaporating system appears at the area of contact of the electron beam with the evaporant surface. Electron beam evaporation can be applicable to all of the metals and alloys and can also be used for compounds such as oxides and zinc sulphide (ZnS), especially high melting point materials, for thin film fabrication. The chapter discusses the characterization of thin films by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and ellipsometry, including improved ellipsometric method.