Patent ID: 7905199

Claim:
A method for growing material on a substrate having a plurality of surfaces including one or more first surfaces lying substantially parallel to a first plane and one or more second surfaces lying substantially perpendicular to said first plane, the method comprising: directing a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) formed from a source of precursor for a thin film toward said substrate with a direction of incidence, said directing said GCIB further comprises: generating said GCIB in a reduced-pressure environment from a pressurized gas mixture having said source of precursor at a stagnation pressure, selecting a beam size of said GCIB using a final beam aperture, selecting a beam acceleration potential, selecting a beam dose, accelerating said GCIB according to said beam acceleration potential, and irradiating said accelerated GCIB onto said substrate according to said beam dose; and orienting said substrate relative to said direction of incidence such that said first plane is substantially perpendicular to said direction of incidence and selecting and/or modifying one or more GCIB properties selected from the group consisting of said stagnation pressure, said beam size, and said beam acceleration potential to effect a directional growth of said thin film on said one or more first surfaces oriented substantially perpendicular to said direction of incidence, while substantially avoiding growth of said thin film on said one or more second surfaces oriented substantially parallel to said direction of incidence, wherein said growth of said thin film comprises constituents from said source of precursor and constituents from said substrate.