Cones formed during sputtering of InP and their use in defining AFM tip shapes

Citation
Mp. Seah et al., Cones formed during sputtering of InP and their use in defining AFM tip shapes, APPL SURF S, 145, 1999, pp. 151-155
Citations number
11
Categorie Soggetti
Apllied Physucs/Condensed Matter/Materiales Science","Material Science & Engineering
Journal title
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
ISSN journal
01694332 → ACNP
Volume
145
Year of publication
1999
Pages
151 - 155
Database
ISI
SICI code
0169-4332(199904)145:<151:CFDSOI>2.0.ZU;2-O
Abstract
Small structures, formed on InP surfaces during sputtering, cause loss of d epth resolution in sputter-depth profiles but may be conveniently incorpora ted into a method for studying AFM tip shapes to define resolution in AFM i mages. The sputtered structures formed here are filaments, often called con es, whose indium tips have a radius of about 10 nm. By sputtering with argo n ions in the energy range, 4 keV to 8 keV, it is shown that the height of the filaments is critically dependent on the sample temperature. At room te mperature, or below, the height is very small but, at 260 degrees C, they g row to 200 nm. An Arrhenius plot for several temperatures indicates growth, probably by a stress-induced diffusion mechanism driven by charging of the indium cap by the ion beam. AFM images of these structures may be averaged to give reliable pseudo-reconstructions of the AFM tip. Crown Copyright (C ) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.