Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published May 15, 2012 | Published
Journal Article Open

Ion impact energy distribution and sputtering of Si and Ge

Abstract

The spatial distribution of ion deposited energy is often assumed to linearly relate to the local ion-induced sputtering of atoms from a solid surface. This—along with the assumption of an ellipsoidal region of energy deposition—is the central mechanism used in the Bradley and Harper [J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 6, 2390 (1988)] explanation of ion-induced surface instabilities, but it has never been assessed directly. To do this, we use molecular dynamics to compute the actual distribution of deposited energy and relate this to the source of sputtered atoms for a range of ion energies (250 eV and 1500 eV), ion species (Ar, Kr, Xe, and Rn), targets (Si and Ge), and incidence angles (0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, 40°, 50°, 60°, 70°, and 80°). It is found that the energy deposition profile is remarkably ellipsoidal but that the relation between local deposited energy and local sputtering is not simple. It depends significantly upon the incidence angle, and the relation between energy and local sputter yield is nonlinear, though with a nearly uniform power-law relation. These results will affect, in particular, surface instability models based upon simpler approximations.

Additional Information

© 2012 American Institute of Physics. Received 23 February 2012; accepted 17 April 2012; published online 18 May 2012. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of NSF grant CMMI-0825173. The computational support provided by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications is also acknowledged.

Attached Files

Published - Hossain2012p18805J_Appl_Phys.pdf

Files

Hossain2012p18805J_Appl_Phys.pdf
Files (3.6 MB)
Name Size Download all
md5:f9a2010b5fec797994011aaf7760d485
3.6 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 17, 2023