Formation of silicon nanodots via ion beam sputtering of ultrathin gold thin film coatings on Si

Ion beam sputtering of ultrathin film Au coatings used as a physical catalyst for self-organization of Si nanostructures has been achieved by tuning the incident particle energy. This approach holds promise as a scalable nanomanufacturing parallel processing alternative to candidate nanolithography techniques. Structures of 11- to 14-nm Si nanodots are formed with normal incidence low-energy Ar ions of 200 eV and fluences above 2 × 1017 cm-2. In situ surface characterization during ion irradiation elucidates early stage ion mixing migration mechanism for nanodot self-organization. In particular, the evolution from gold film islands to the formation of ion-induced metastable gold silicide followed by pure Si nanodots formed with no need for impurity seeding

The significance of in situ conditions in the characterization of GaSb nanopatterned surfaces via ion beam sputtering

A systematic study is conducted in order to elucidate the underlying mechanism(s) for nanopatterning with low-energy irradiation of GaSb (100) under normal incidence. Ion energies between 50 and 1000 eV of Ar+ and ion fluences of up to 10(18) cm(-2) were employed. Characterization of the shallow (e.g., 1 to 6 nm) amorphous phase region induced by irradiation and the subsurface crystalline phase region is accomplished with low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. In situ studies are conducted due to the strong chemical affinity for oxygen of GaSb. The studies conclude that at energies below 200 eV, the native oxide layer hampers nanopatterning until it becomes removed at a fluence of approximately 5 x 10(16) cm(-2). At this energy and threshold fluence, the surface is enriched with Ga atoms during irradiation. At energies above 200 eV, the native oxide layer is efficiently removed in the early irradiation stages, and thus the detrimental effects from the oxide on nanopatterning are negligible. In situ surface concentration quantification indicates that the surface enrichment with Sb atoms in the amorphous phase layer increases with the incident ion energy. Post-air exposure characterization reveals that the measured enrichment of the surface with gallium is due to oxygen reduction by Ga atoms segregated from both the amorphous and the crystalline phase regions as a result of air exposure. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3642997