Phase Diagram for Nanostructuring CaF2 Surfaces by Slow Highly Charged Ions
Phase Diagram for Nanostructuring CaF2 Surfaces by Slow Highly Charged Ions
El-Said, A. S.; Wilhelm, R. A.; Heller, R.; Facsko, S.; Lemell, C.; Wachter, G.; Burgdorfer, J.; Ritter, R.; Aumayr, F.
The impact of individual slow highly charged ions (HCI) on alkaline earth halide and alkali halide surfaces creates nano-scale surface modifications. For different materials and impact energies a wide variety of topographic alterations have been observed, ranging from regularly shaped pits to nano-hillocks. We present experimental evidence for the creation of thermodynamically stable defect agglomerations initially hidden after irradiation but becoming visible as pits upon subsequent etching. A well defined threshold separating regions with and without etch-pit formation is found as a function of potential and kinetic energies of the projectile. Combining this novel type of surface defects with the previously identified hillock formation, a phase diagram for HCI induced surface restructuring emerges. The simulation of the energy deposition by the HCI in the crystal provides insight into the early stages of the dynamics of the surface modification and its dependence on the kinetic and potential energies.
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- Ion Beam Center DOI: 10.17815/jlsrf-3-159
Related publications
- DOI: 10.17815/jlsrf-3-159 is cited by this (Id 17993) publication
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Physical Review Letters 109(2012), 117602
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.117602
ISSN: 0031-9007
Cited 45 times in Scopus -
Poster
25th International Conference on Atomic Collisions in Solids (ICACS), 21.-25.10.2012, Kyoto, Japan
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