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Nonlinear Stabilization Mechanisms in Amplitude Saturation During Sputter Ripple Formation on Silicon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Jonah Erlebacher  and
Ari-David Brown
Jonah Erlebacher
Affiliation:
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 21218, U.S.A.
Ari-David Brown
Affiliation:
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 21218, U.S.A. 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University
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Abstract

Sputter rippling refers to the formation of regular surface patterns during glancing incidence energetic ion beam etching of surfaces, usually as a result of a competition between etching (from the ion beam) and capillary action (driving smoothening via surface diffusion). Many different kinds of morphologies are often observed, including ripples oriented parallel and perpendicular to the projected ion beam direction and “quantum dots” arranged in hexagonal or rectangular arrays. Theoretical analyses of ripple evolution have concentrated on the initial stages of the surface instability leading to pattern formation, and the details associated with the nonlinear mechanisms leading to amplitude saturation and pattern stabilization remain a subject of active interest. The Si(111) surface is a single component surface with isotropic surface diffusion kinetics; for these reasons, this system provides a useful probe of surface evolution without complicating effects of compositional inhomogeneities and anisotropic terrace diffusion. Our examination of the Si(111) surface indicates that step-step interactions may play an important role in the evolution of sputter ripples in this system. To argue for this conclusion, a comparison with sputter ripple evolution on Si(001) is made.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 849: Symposium KK – Kinetics-Driven Nanopatterning on Surfaces , 2004 , KK6.6
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2005

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