Scanning force microscopy (AFM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) have been used to investigate the complex topography evolution of Si surfaces during low-energy ion beam erosion. Depending on ion-beam parameters, a variety of different topographies can develop on the surface. At oblique ion-incidence angles, nanodots are formed for ion energies ⩾300eV upon sample rotation. Properly chosen parameters of the broad-beam ion source result in dots possessing a very high degree of lateral ordering with a mean dot size λ∼30nm. Both, degree of ordering and size homogeneity of these nanostructures increases with erosion time leading to the most ordered self-organized patterns on Si surfaces reported thus far.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Ziberi et al. (2005) studied this question.