A composite nanoarchitecture unit is disclosed. The unit comprises a columnar film grown on top of another layer where the columns touch each other at the top forming arches having optimized characteristics. This nanoarchitecture unit, called nano-vault, achieves high mechanical stability for films under strong and variable stress action.

There is provided a film forming apparatus, including: a processing chamber having a processing space in which a film forming process is performed on a substrate; a substrate support part configured to support the substrate inside the processing chamber; at least one sputtering particle emission part including a target and configured to emit sputtering particles to the substrate from the target; and at least one etching particle emission part configured to emit etching particles having an etching action with respect to the substrate, wherein the sputtering particles emitted from the at least one sputtering particle emission part are deposited on the substrate to form a film, and a portion of the film is etched by the etching particles emitted from the at least one etching particle emission part.

EC film stacks and different layers within the EC film stacks are disclosed. Methods of manufacturing these layers are also disclosed. In one embodiment, an EC layer comprises nanostructured EC layer. These layers may be manufactured by various methods, including, including, but not limited to glancing angle deposition, oblique angle deposition, electrophoresis, electrolyte deposition, and atomic layer deposition. The nanostructured EC layers have a high specific surface area, improved response times, and higher color efficiency.

EC film stacks and different layers within the EC film stacks are disclosed. Methods of manufacturing these layers are also disclosed. In one embodiment, an EC layer comprises nanostructured EC layer. These layers may be manufactured by various methods, including, including, but not limited to glancing angle deposition, oblique angle deposition, electrophoresis, electrolyte deposition, and atomic layer deposition. The nanostructured EC layers have a high specific surface area, improved response times, and higher color efficiency.

A film-forming apparatus comprises: a processing chamber defining a processing space, a first sputter-particle emitter and a second sputter-particle emitter having targets, respectively, from which sputter-particles are emitted in different oblique directions in the processing space, a sputter-particle blocking plate having a passage hole through which the sputter particles emitted from the first sputter-particle emitter and the second sputter-particle emitter pass, a substrate support configured to support a substrate and provided at a side opposite the first sputter-particle emitter and the second sputter-particle emitter with respect to the sputter-particle blocking plate in the processing space, a substrate moving mechanism configured to linearly move the substrate supported on the substrate support, and a controller configured to control the emission of sputter-particles from the first sputter-particle emitter and the second sputter-particle emitter while controlling the substrate moving mechanism to move the substrate linearly.

The invention is directed to a composite polymer/nanoporous film system and methods of fabrication of tunable nanoporous coatings on flexible polymer substrates. The porosity of the nanoporous film can be tuned during fabrication to a desired value by adjusting the deposition conditions. Experiments show that SiO.sub.2 coatings with tunable porosity fabricated by oblique-angle electron beam deposition can be deposited on polymer substrates. These conformable coatings have many applications, including in the field of optics where the ability to fabricate tunable refractive index coatings on a variety of materials and shapes is of great importance.

A new titanium-based implant is disclosed, which is formed by a titanium coating manufactured with biomaterials with applications in osseous implantology. The nanotopographical characteristics of these implants inhibit bacterial adhesion and the formation of a bacterial biofilm on the surface, whilst simultaneously presenting suitable properties for the adhesion, stretching and proliferation of bone-forming cells. Moreover, the invention comprises a method for manufacturing the implant by means of oblique-incidence techniques and the use thereof in osseous implantology.

Bulk acoustic wave resonator structures include a bulk layer with inclined c-axis hexagonal crystal structure piezoelectric material supported by a substrate. The bulk layer may be prepared without first depositing a seed layer on the substrate. The bulk material layer has a c-axis tilt of about 32 degrees or greater. The bulk material layer may exhibit a ratio of shear coupling to longitudinal coupling of 1.25 or greater during excitation. A method for preparing a crystalline bulk layer having a c-axis tilt includes depositing a bulk material layer directly onto a substrate at an off-normal incidence. The deposition conditions may include a pressure of less than 5 mTorr and a deposition angle of about 35 degrees to about 85 degrees.

Methods for depositing bulk layer crystalline material having a predetermined c-axis tilt on a substrate include a first step of depositing a first portion of bulk layer material at a first incidence angle to achieve a predetermined c-axis tilt, and a second step of depositing a second portion of the bulk material layer onto the first portion at a second incidence angle that is smaller than the first incidence angle. The second portion has a second c-axis tilt that substantially aligns with the first c-axis tilt.

A structure includes a substrate including a wafer or a portion thereof; and a piezoelectric bulk material layer comprising a first portion deposited onto the substrate and a second portion deposited onto the first portion, the second portion comprising an outer surface having a surface roughness (Ra) of 4.5 nm or less. Methods for depositing a piezoelectric bulk material layer include depositing a first portion of bulk layer material at a first incidence angle to achieve a predetermined c-axis tilt, and depositing a second portion of the bulk material layer onto the first portion at a second incidence angle that is smaller than the first incidence angle. The second portion has a second c-axis tilt that substantially aligns with the first c-axis tilt.