Morphology of PbTe crystal surface sputtered by argon plasma under Secondary Neutral Mass Spectrometry conditions

TL;DR

This study examines how argon plasma sputtering affects the surface morphology of PbTe crystals, revealing the formation of various microscopic structures and their dependence on sputtering conditions.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the morphological changes and re-deposition phenomena on PbTe surfaces during plasma sputtering under SNMS conditions.

Findings

PbTe surface forms dimples during sputtering.

Re-deposited structures include hillocks, pyramids, and cones.

Surface morphology depends on sputtering energy and duration.

Abstract

We have investigated morphology of the lateral surfaces of PbTe crystal samples grown from melt by the Bridgman method sputtered by Ar+ plasma with ion energy of 50-550 eV for 5-50 minutes under Secondary Neutral Mass Spectrometry (SNMS) conditions. The sputtered PbTe crystal surface was found to be simultaneously both the source of sputtered material and the efficient substrate for re-deposition of the sputtered material during the depth profiling. During sputtering PbTe crystal surface is forming the dimple relief. To be redeposited the sputtered Pb and Te form arrays of the microscopic surface structures in the shapes of hillocks, pyramids, cones and others on the PbTe crystal sputtered surface. Correlation between the density of re-deposited microscopic surface structures, their shape, and average size, on the one hand, and the energy and duration of sputtering, on the other, is revealed.