Self-Organized Ordering of Nanostructures Produced by Ion-Beam Sputtering

TL;DR

This paper presents a new continuum model for ion-beam sputtering that explains the self-organized in-plane ordering of nanostructures, emphasizing the roles of redeposition and surface viscous flow, with results aligning with experimental observations.

Contribution

A novel continuum model extending existing theories to account for in-plane nanostructure ordering in ion-beam sputtering, incorporating effects of redeposition and viscous flow.

Findings

Identification of non-linear effects responsible for in-plane ordering

Correlation between model predictions and experimental ordering levels

Highlighting the significance of redeposition and viscous flow in pattern formation

Abstract

We study the self-organized ordering of nanostructures produced by ion-beam sputtering (IBS) of targets amorphizing under irradiation. By introducing a model akin to models of pattern formation in aeolian sand dunes, we extend consistently the current continuum theory of erosion by IBS. We obtain new non-linear effects responsible for the in-plane ordering of the structures, whose strength correlates with the degree of ordering found in experiments. Our results highlight the importance of redeposition and surface viscous flow to this nanopattern formation process.