Morphology of graphite surfaces after ion-beam erosion - art. no. 125419

A review of the topographic evolution of (0001) highly oriented pyrolytic g raphite surfaces eroded by 2-50 keV ion beams and investigated using scanni ng tunneling microscopy is given. For tilted incidence of the ion beam and intermediate ion fluences of about 10(17) cm(-2), a periodic ripple topogra phy with characteristic wavelengths between 40 and 700 nm was found. This m orphology evolution is explained by a linear continuum theory of the interp lay between material removal during sputtering and surface diffusion. The e volution of the surface morphology was measured as a function of the ion ma ss, the ion energy, and the target temperature. The validity of the linear erosion theory in the observed parameter space has been tested and its Limi tations for increasing fluences and ion energies and varying temperatures s hown.