Ne+, Ar+ and Xe+ ion bombardment induced and suppressed topography on Si

Self-organized nanopatterning of silicon surfaces by ion beam sputtering

“…This suggests that some dependence of u c might exist with the ion species and the energy range. A relation could also exist with very early reports on the dependence of the pattern properties with the target temperature for the case of Ar þ and Ne þ irradiations [17,86]. In these cases, it was necessary to reduce the temperature in order to pattern the surface with lighter ions, in contrast e.g.…”

“…Obviously, without beam scanning the surface would be expected to reach higher temperatures than when the ion beam is scanned. Moreover, the early results by Carter et al [17,86] on the role of the target temperature further indicate the importance of this variable. Here, it was found that reducing the target temperature below room temperature promoted the initiation and evolution of roughening (patterning) at lower fluences.…”