Abstract:
Morphological studies were done on Si (001) surfaces after rastering them with a 1 keV O2
+
ion beam at an
angle. The resulting mounded morphology was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. The
roughness at different length scales were further extracted and quantified from AFM measurements using scaling
analysis. Results indicate two growth regimes of the evolving surface which were evident from the power spectral
density (PSD) and interface width analysis of the eroded surfaces. Initially the growth is unstable followed by a stable
regime of the nanostructures evolved after about 35 minutes of erosion. Temporal studies done on these surfaces show
the onset of shadowing at higher sputtering times thus indicating the breakdown of the growth model at these times.
