Abstract
We show that the "sputter patterning" topographical instability is determined by the effects of ion impact-induced prompt atomic redistribution and that erosion--the consensus predominant cause--is essentially irrelevant. We use grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering to measure in situ the damping of noise or its amplification into patterns via the linear dispersion relation. A model based on the effects of impact-induced redistribution of those atoms that are not sputtered away explains both the observed ultrasmoothening at low angles from normal incidence and the instability at higher angles.
Highlights
We show that the "sputter patterning" topographical instability is determined by the effects of ion impact-induced prompt atomic redistribution and that sputter erosion - the consensus predominant cause - is essentially irrelevant
P. 2 sion-based paradigm was established firmly 22 years ago when the destabilizing effect of the surface curvature-dependent [3] sputter yield was incorporated into the linear stability theory of Bradley and Harper [4] (BH)
In Bradley and Harper [4] (BH) theory the characteristic length scale of the pattern originates from differing wavenumber dependences of two competing effects: the destabilizing effect of a sputter yield that increases with increasing concave curvature, and the stabilizing effect of capillarity-driven surface diffusion
Summary
We show that the "sputter patterning" topographical instability is determined by the effects of ion impact-induced prompt atomic redistribution and that sputter erosion - the consensus predominant cause - is essentially irrelevant. We use Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-Ray Scattering to measure in situ the damping of noise or its amplification into patterns via the linear dispersion relation.
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