Sputter-enhanced evaporative deposition apparatus and method

1. A deposition apparatus operable to deposit a material to be deposited on a deposition target, the deposition apparatus comprising:

a deposition source that produces a deposition flow including an evaporation flow of the material to be deposited and a sputtering flow of the material to be deposited, the deposition source comprising:

an evaporation source including a crucible that receives therein the material to be deposited, the evaporation source configured to heat the material to be deposited in the crucible to produce the evaporation flow of the material to be deposited, and

an ion beam sputtering source operable to produce and direct ions at the material to be deposited in the crucible such that the ions eject a portion of the material to be deposited from the crucible to produce the sputtering flow of the material to be deposited, while the evaporation source is operated.

2. The deposition apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the evaporation source is a thermal evaporation source.

3. The deposition apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the evaporation source is an electron beam evaporation source.

4. The deposition apparatus of claim 1 , further including

a vacuum enclosure having an interior in which the deposition source is received, and

a vacuum pump operable to evacuate the interior of the vacuum enclosure.

5. The deposition apparatus of claim 1 , further including

an adjustable evaporation power source for the evaporation source, and

an adjustable sputtering power source for the ion beam sputtering source, wherein the adjustable evaporation power source and the adjustable sputtering power source are adjustable independently of each other.

6. The deposition apparatus of claim 1 , further including a magnetic confinement coil positioned to direct the ions toward the material to be deposited while it is within the crucible.

7. The deposition apparatus of claim 1 , further including the material to be deposited, and wherein the material to be deposited is a metal, a semiconductor, or an insulator.

8. The deposition apparatus of claim 1 , further including a deposition target in facing relationship to the deposition source.

9. The deposition apparatus of claim 1 , further including

a deposition target in facing relationship to the deposition source, and

a biasing power supply that electrically biases the evaporation source relative to the deposition target.

10. A deposition apparatus operable to deposit a material to be deposited, the deposition apparatus comprising:

a deposition source that produces a deposition flow including an evaporation flow of the material to be deposited and a sputtering flow of the material to be deposited, the deposition source comprising:

an evaporation source including a crucible that receives therein the material to be deposited, the evaporation source configured to heat the material to be deposited in the crucible to produce the evaporation flow of the material to be deposited; and

an ion beam sputtering source that produces and directs ions at the material to be deposited in the crucible such that the ions eject a portion of the material to be deposited from the crucible to produce the sputtering flow of the material to be deposited while the evaporation source is operated;

a deposition target in facing relationship to the deposition source;

an adjustable evaporation power source for the evaporation source;

an adjustable sputtering power source for the ion beam sputtering source, wherein the adjustable evaporation power source and the adjustable sputtering power source are adjustable independently of each other;

a vacuum enclosure having an interior in which the deposition source and the deposition target are received; and

a vacuum pump operable to evacuate the interior of the vacuum enclosure.

11. The deposition apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the evaporation source is a thermal evaporation source.

12. The deposition apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the evaporation source is an electron beam evaporation source.

13. The deposition apparatus of claim 10 , further including

a magnetic confinement coil positioned to direct the ions toward the material to be deposited while it is within the crucible.

14. The deposition apparatus of claim 10 , further including

a biasing power supply that electrically biases the evaporation source relative to the deposition target.

15. A method for depositing a material on a deposition target, comprising the steps of

providing a deposition target;

providing a deposition source that contains a material to be deposited and produces therefrom a deposition flow of the material to be deposited to the deposition target, the deposition flow including an evaporation flow of the material to be deposited and a sputtering flow of the material to be deposited, the deposition source comprising:

an evaporation source including a crucible having therein the material to be deposited, and

an ion beam sputtering source that produces ions;

positioning the deposition target to be in a facing relationship to the deposition source;

operating the evaporation source to evaporate the material to be deposited in the crucible to produce the evaporation flow from the crucible to the deposition target; and

simultaneously operating the ion beam sputtering source, to direct the ions at the material to be deposited in the crucible to eject a portion of the material to be deposited to produce the sputtering flow from the crucible to the deposition target.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein operating the ion beam sputtering source includes adjusting the power of the ion beam sputtering source to control the average energy of the sputtering flow incident upon the deposition target.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein operating the ion beam sputtering source includes positioning the sputtering source so that the ions do not reach the deposition target.