Summary:
The temporal evolution of the characteristic wavelength (lambda) and ordering range (xi) of self-organized nanodot patterns induced during Ar+ ion beam sputtering on Si(001) and Si(111) surfaces is studied by atomic force microscopy and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. The patterns exhibit initial coarsening of lambda (up to 54-60 nm) and increase in xi (up to 400-500 nm) after which both features stabilize. The pattern formation is only weakly controlled by the crystallographic surface orientation, Si(111) surfaces showing a faster evolution into a proper stationary state. This trend is attributed to a higher sputtering rate at this orientation, as confirmed by theoretical simulations. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.
Keywords: surfaces, erosion, dots
JCR Impact Factor and WoS quartile: 3,726 (2008); 3,500 - Q2 (2023)
DOI reference:
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2398916
Published on paper: June 2008.
Published on-line: December 2006.
Citation:
R. Gago, L. Vázquez, O. Plantevin, T.H. Metzger, J. Muñoz-Garcia, R. Cuerno, M. Castro, Order enhancement and coarsening of self-organized silicon nanodot patterns induced by ion-beam sputtering. Applied Physics Letters. Vol. 89, nº. 23, pp. 233101.1 - 233101.3, June 2008. [Online: December 2006]
