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Over the last decade ion‐beam‐assisted deposition (IBAD) has become a well‐known technique for deposition of thin films because of its ability to control properties of coatings. A new IBAD system is introduced which includes a facility to illuminate samples by UV light during the deposition process in order to enhance motion of deposited atoms and interfacial reactions between substrate and coating. The IBAD system consists of two vacuum chambers, the preparation chamber and the analysis chamber, which are connected by a straight tube for sample transfer. Samples may be moved through the tube between the two chambers by a linear feedthrough. The preparation chamber includes a filamentless rf ion source, an electron‐beam evaporator, and a tube with a nozzle delivering reactive gases near the sample during deposition. In addition to the ion‐assisted deposition process, a technique based on photon irradiation has been employed to obtain significant improvements of structure and properties of deposited metal ...