1 research outputs found
Anomalous Plastic Deformation and Sputtering of Ion Irradiated Silicon Nanowires
Silicon nanowires of various diameters
were irradiated with 100 keV and 300 keV Ar<sup>+</sup> ions on a
rotatable and heatable stage. Irradiation at elevated temperatures
above 300 °C retains the geometry of the nanostructure and sputtering
can be gauged accurately. The diameter dependence of the sputtering
shows a maximum if the ion range matches the nanowire diameter, which
is in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations based on binary
collisions. Nanowires irradiated at room temperature, however, amorphize
and deform plastically. So far, plastic deformation has not been observed
in bulk silicon at such low ion energies. The magnitude and direction
of the deformation is independent of the ion-beam direction and cannot
be explained with mass-transport in a binary collision cascade but
only by collective movement of atoms in the collision cascade with
the given boundary conditions of a high surface to volume ratio