Craters on silicon surfaces created by gas cluster ion impacts

Atomic force microscopy ~AFM! and high-resolution transmission electron microscope ~HRTEM! cross section imaging of individual gas cluster ion impact craters on Si~100! and Si~111! substrate surfaces is examined. The comparison between 3 and 24 kV cluster impacts from Ar and O2 gas sources is shown. Results for low fluence (1010 ions/cm2) 24 kV Ar individual cluster impacts onto a Si~100! and Si~111! substrate surfaces are compared with hybrid molecular dynamics ~HMD! simulations. A HMD method is used for modeling impacts of Arn (n5135, 225! clusters, with energies of 24–50 eV/atom, on Si~100! and Si~111! surfaces. On a Si~100!, craters are nearly triangular in cross section, with the facets directed along the close-packed ~111! planes. The Si~100! craters exhibit four-fold symmetry as imaged by cross-sectional HRTEM, and AFM top view, in agreement with modeling. In contrast, the shape of craters on a Si~111! shows a complicated six-pointed shape in the modeling, while AFM indicates three-fold symmetry of the impact. The lower energy 3 kV individual cluster impacts reveal the same crater shape in HRTEM cross section for both Ar and O2 gas clusters, but with shallower crater depth than for the higher-energy impacts. The kinetics of the Ar and O2 crater impacts may explain the successful use of higher-energy cluster impacts for etching material of higher initial surface roughness followed by the lower energy impacts as an effective finishing step to achieve smoother surfaces

Craters on silicon surfaces created by gas cluster ion impacts

Atomic force microscopy ~AFM! and high-resolution transmission electron microscope ~HRTEM! cross section imaging of individual gas cluster ion impact craters on Si~100! and Si~111! substrate surfaces is examined. The comparison between 3 and 24 kV cluster impacts from Ar and O2 gas sources is shown. Results for low fluence (1010 ions/cm2) 24 kV Ar individual cluster impacts onto a Si~100! and Si~111! substrate surfaces are compared with hybrid molecular dynamics ~HMD! simulations. A HMD method is used for modeling impacts of Arn (n5135, 225! clusters, with energies of 24–50 eV/atom, on Si~100! and Si~111! surfaces. On a Si~100!, craters are nearly triangular in cross section, with the facets directed along the close-packed ~111! planes. The Si~100! craters exhibit four-fold symmetry as imaged by cross-sectional HRTEM, and AFM top view, in agreement with modeling. In contrast, the shape of craters on a Si~111! shows a complicated six-pointed shape in the modeling, while AFM indicates three-fold symmetry of the impact. The lower energy 3 kV individual cluster impacts reveal the same crater shape in HRTEM cross section for both Ar and O2 gas clusters, but with shallower crater depth than for the higher-energy impacts. The kinetics of the Ar and O2 crater impacts may explain the successful use of higher-energy cluster impacts for etching material of higher initial surface roughness followed by the lower energy impacts as an effective finishing step to achieve smoother surfaces