Order enhancement and coarsening of self-organized silicon nanodot patterns induced by ion-beam sputtering

Abstract

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.

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.