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Summary: Multiple Bifurcation Types and the Linear Dynamics of Ion Sputtered Surfaces
Charbel S. Madi,1
Benny Davidovitch,2
H. Bola George,1
Scott A. Norris,1
Michael P. Brenner,1
and Michael J. Aziz1
1
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge Massachusetts 02138, USA
2
Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Massachusetts 01002, USA
(Received 3 December 2007; published 9 December 2008)
We study the patterns formed on ion sputtered Si surfaces as a function of ion energy and incidence
angle, and identify a region in parameter space where the flat surface is stable. The boundaries between the
stable and pattern-forming regions represent mathematical bifurcations. Our data set exhibits at least two
different bifurcation types. We discuss the constraints imposed by these observations on the correct model
of long wavelength dynamics of ion sputtered surfaces.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.246102 PACS numbers: 68.49.Sf, 81.16.Rf, 81.65.Cf
Uniform ion beam sputter erosion of a solid surface
often causes a spontaneously arising pattern in the surface
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