Pulsed vaporization sources for high efficiency production of metal clusters

We describe a pulsed Laser Vaporization Source (LVS) and a Pulsed Arc Ion Cluster Source (PACIS) for the production of intense beams of neutral and ionized clusters. The PACIS source has been tested in a molecular beam apparatus equipped with a time of flight spectrometer in order to characterize the cluster mass distribution. We show that it is possible to control the mass distribution of the aggregates, their kinetic energy and their internal temperature. These parameters are important for the deposition of metallic and composite thin films with controlled properties.