Patterning polycrystalline thin films by defocused ion beam: The influence of initial morphology on the evolution of self-organized nanostructures

We report on self-organized patterning of polycrystalline noble metal films, supported on dielectric substrates, by defocused Ar+ ion beam irradiation. The initial surface morphology affects the formation of nanostructures, forcing the growth of ripples with a lateral periodicity imposed by the pristine polycrystalline grain distribution. At the early stages, the self-organization process is dominated by the shadowing of taller grains, while a crossover to the conventional erosive regime, observed for single crystals, sets in at longer sputtering times. The grain boundaries, although providing an additional bias for diffusion of mobile defects, do not affect the propagation of nanoscale ripples across individual grains.