Modification of the (111) surface, which resulted from 200MeV 107Ag+14 ion bombardment at an angle of 15º with respect to the surface normal, was investigated by means of atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The root mean square roughness which was measured by using atomic force microscopy was found to increase from 0.96nm for pristine samples to 18.33nm in samples which were irradiated to an ion fluence of 5 x 1013/cm2. This marked increase in surface roughness was attributed to the displacement of Si atoms; driven by the creation of unsaturated dangling bonds on the surface during swift heavy ion bombardment. At a fluence of 5 x 1013/cm2, a new type of ditch-and-dyke structure was observed. These structures were distributed over the bombarded surface. Each ditch was followed by a dyke. This was attributed to the cumulative effect of ion bombardment which arose due to the overlapping of ion-induced damage zones and electronic excitation-induced shear motion of atoms towards the surface.

Electronic Excitation Induced Mass Transport on 200MeV 107Ag+14 Ion Irradiated Si Surface J.P.Singh, R.Singh, D.Kanjilal, N.C.Mishra, V.Ganesan: Journal of Applied Physics, 2000, 87[6], 2742-6