The incident angle effect on radiation damage and sputtering for low energy Ar+ ion bombardment

Abstract

The problem of the surface damage due to ion bombardment has remained to be understood and solved. Especially for surface analysis tools such as XPS or AES sputter depth profiling, and SIMS, where sputtering processes are used, the detailed understanding of the surface damage process and the development of methods minimizing the surface damage are very important to get the original informations of the analyzed specimens. In this work, the effect of the incident angle on the formation of the altered surface layer of Ta2O5 thin film and the surface amorphization process of Si(100) surface due to Ar+ ion bombardment was studied with Medium Energy Ion Scattering Spectroscopy and Computer Simulations by Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo methods. Emphases were given on the extreme glancing incident angle of 80°, because it significantly minimized the radiation damage of Si and the preferential sputtering for Ta2O5.