Apparatus and a method for forming an alloy layer over a substrate using an ion beam

Abstract

One embodiment of the invention involves introducing at least two metals into a chamber for forming an alloy layer over a substrate. This is accomplished by a variety of methods. In one embodiment, at least two metals are mixed and introduced into a chamber in which a focused ion beam contacts the two metals to form at least one alloy layer over a substrate. In another embodiment, at least two precursor gas sources are introduced into the chamber in which each precursor gas source contains a metal. The focused ion beam contacts the two precursor gases to form an alloy layer over the substrate. In yet another embodiment, a second metal layer is formed over a first metal layer to form a multi-metal layer. Thereafter, thermal treatment or introducing a focused ion beam to at least a portion of the multi-metal layer is performed to create at least one alloy layer over the substrate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.