Anomalous behavior in temporal evolution of ripple wavelength under medium energy Ar{sup +}-ion bombardment on Si: A case of initial wavelength selection
- Institute of Physics, Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar 751 005 (India)
- Departamento de Matematicas and Grupo Interdisciplinar de Sistemas Complejos (GISC), Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 28911 Leganes (Spain)
- Inter-University Accelerator Centre, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110 067 (India)
We have studied the early stage dynamics of ripple patterns on Si surfaces, in the fluence range of 1–3 × 10{sup 18} ions cm{sup −2}, as induced by medium energy Ar{sup +}-ion irradiation at room temperature. Under our experimental conditions, the ripple evolution is found to be in the linear regime, while a clear decreasing trend in the ripple wavelength is observed up to a certain time (fluence). Numerical simulations of a continuum model of ion-sputtered surfaces suggest that this anomalous behavior is due to the relaxation of the surface features of the experimental pristine surface during the initial stage of pattern formation. The observation of this hitherto unobserved behavior of the ripple wavelength seems to have been enabled by the use of medium energy ions, where the ripple wavelengths are found to be order(s) of magnitude larger than those at lower ion energies.
- OSTI ID:
- 22596798
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 22; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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