Nanostructuring Ge Surfaces by Ion Irradiation


Nanostructuring Ge Surfaces by Ion Irradiation

Facsko, S.; Fritzsche, M.; Ou, X.; Keller, A.

Low energy ion irradiation induces the formation of periodic surface patterns. These struc-tured surfaces exhibit periodicities in the range of a few tens to hundreds of nanometers and are promising templates for producing nanostructured thin films. Periodic ripple patterns with wave vector parallel to the ion beam direction are observed frequently for ion irradiation at incidence angles between 50° and 70° to the surface normal. At normal incidence dot or hole patterns with hexagonal symmetry are observed only under special irradiation conditions.
The formation of hexagonally arranged hole patterns on Ge(001) surfaces induced by irradia-tion at normal incidence was studied with a scanned focused Ga+ ion beam (FIB). Hole pat-terns with characteristic length of about 50 nm are observed in a narrow energy range of 4 - 6 keV. Hole patterns induced by FIB irradiations were compared to broad beam Ga+ and Ge+ irradiations with the same ion energy. No differences were found demonstrating that FIB irra-diations with a large overlap of the scanned beam are identical to conventional broad beam irradiations.
Furthermore, ion the formation of checkerboard patterns on Ge surfaces was observed dur-ing 1 keV Ar+ irradiation at normal incidence and higher substrate temperature. Similar to the case of ion irradiated crystalline metal surfaces on the crystalline Ge surface a new instability appears at temperatures above the recrystallization temperature due to the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier. In this case, we observe regular checkerboard or hole patterns with the symmetry of the patterns reflecting the crystal structure of the irradiated surface.

Keywords: ion irradiation; surface patterning; Ge; nanostructures

Related publications

  • Lecture (Conference)
    18th International Conference on Surface Modification of Materials by Ion Beams (SMMIB 2013), 15.-20.09.2013, Kusadasi, Türkiye

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