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Study of pattern transition in nanopatterned Si(100) produced by impurity-assisted low-energy ion-beam erosion

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Abstract

In this work, formation of self-organized Si nanostructures induced by pure Fe incorporation during normal incidence low-energy (1keV) Ar\(^+\) ion bombardment is presented. It has been observed that the incorporation of Fe affects the evolution of the surface topography. The addition of Fe generates pronounced nanopatterns, such as dots, ripples and combinations of dots and ripples. The orientation of the ripple wave vector of the patterns formed is found to be in a direction normal to the Fe flow. The nanoripples with wavelength of the order of 39 nm produced is expected to be the lowest wavelength of the patterns reported on ion-beam-eroded structures under the incorporation of metallic impurities as per our knowledge. From the AFM and GISAXS analysis, it has been confirmed that the ripples formed are asymmetric in nature. The effect of the concentration of the Fe on morphological transition of the patterns has been studied using Rutherford backscattering measurements.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. V Ganesan, Mohan Gangarade, UGC DAE CSR, Indore, for AFM measurements, and Dr. S. Balaji and Dr. B.S. Panigrahi, IGCAR, Kalpakkam, India, for RBS measurements.

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  1. Sarathlal Koyiloth Vayalil

    Present address: Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, 560012, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Photon Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany

    Sarathlal Koyiloth Vayalil & Stephan V. Roth

  2. Amity Center for Spintronic Materials, Amity University, Sector 125, Noida, 201313, India

    Ajay Gupta

  3. KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, Teknikringen 56-58, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Stephan V. Roth

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Correspondence to Sarathlal Koyiloth Vayalil.

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Koyiloth Vayalil, S., Gupta, A. & Roth, S.V. Study of pattern transition in nanopatterned Si(100) produced by impurity-assisted low-energy ion-beam erosion. Appl. Phys. A 123, 225 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-0756-1

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