Ip. Soshnikov et al., The formation of developed morphology on the indium phosphide surface by ion argon beam sputtering, TECH PHYS, 46(7), 2001, pp. 892-896
Self-organizing structures on the InP surface that are formed by ion-beam s
puttering in the energy range 0.1-15 keV are investigated. It is shown that
the processing of the InP surface by monochromatic argon beams can give ri
se to the formation of two, "grass" and "cone-in-pit," morphologies. The fo
rmation of the relief is treated in terms of a qualitative model including
the processes of sputtering, cascade mixing, and surface transport. The mod
el adequately predicts the fluence dependence of the density and size of mo
rphological features. In addition, it enables one to clarify conditions und
er which the morphologies form, as well as to explain the effect of target
temperature on the demarcation line between the morphologies. It is demonst
rated that the morphology may become anisotropic in the case of mask etchin
g. In particular, the application of regularly spaced strips as masks makes
it possible to produce a texture-like surface structure. (C) 2001 MAIK "Na
uka/ Interperiodica".