Surface track formation on mica surfaces due to grazing incidence 20.2 MeV C60 ions: a comparative study employing shadow-replica electron microscopy, tapping-mode and phase-imaging scanning force microscopy

Abstract

We present results from a study of surface tracks on mica, induced by 20.2-MeV C60 (fullerene) ions at a grazing angle of incidence. We employed both shadow-replica electron microscopy (SR-EM) and tapping-mode scanning force microscopy (TM-SFM). The lateral dimensions of the surface tracks were measured consistently by both methods, whereas the vertical dimensions were overestimated by a factor of ≈1.8 by TM-SFM relative to SR-EM, as previously observed in studies of surface tracks on gypsum (Kolesnikov et al., Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 122 (1997) 255). Within the inherent spread of the data, height measurements by TM-SFM did not depend on tip size. While varying the instrumental operation parameters of TM-SFM, both irreversible and reversible apparent deformations of the surface defects were observed. These changes depended on the sharpness of the probe tip employed. Finally, sudden changes in apparent height of the surface tracks occurred under some conditions. By imaging the phase angle between cantilever drive and response signals, large phase perturbations were observed to accompany the apparent height changes.