X-ray scattering and diffraction from Xe-beam induced ripples in crystalline Si

In recent years, the creation of surface-nanostructures due to ion-beam sputtering has gained much interest due to the possibility to pattern large surface areas with tunable morphologies in a short time. One kind of those nanostructures are wave-like patterns (ripples) produced by an interplay between a roughening process caused by ion beam erosion (sputtering) of the surface and strengthening processes caused by surface diffusion [1]. In this contribution we report on investigations of patterned Si (001) surfaces after irradiation with Xe-ions using ion-energies up to 70keV. During the sputtering, an amorphous surface-layer is formed followed by an interface towards crystalline material, showing the same morphology as the surface. The structure and morphology of the amorphous layer and the amorphous-crystalline (a/c) interface were studied using synchrotron-radiation. Whereas the combination of grazing-incidence small angle scattering (GISAXS) and X-ray reflectivity can be used to study the surface morphology with large statistical sampling (Fig. 1), grazing incidence diffraction (GID) gives access to the buried crystalline material and probes both the morphology and the crystal structure of the a/c interface.
We found that for non-optimal sputter conditions, defects are created at the a/c interface, leading to a net expansion of the crystal along the ripples [2]. This inclusion of defects can be reduced if optimal sputter conditions are chosen, leading to an increasing ripple amplitude rather than the formation of defects.
Referenzen
[1] M. A. Makeev et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. B 197, 185 (2002)
[2] A. Biermanns et al., J. Appl. Phys. 104, 044312 (2008)