We report on self-organized patterning of polycrystalline noble metal films on dielectric substrates by defocused Ar+ ion beam irradiation. The initial surface morphology affects the formation of nanostructures, influencing the lateral periodicity of the ripples via the pristine polycrystalline grain distribution. At the early stages, the self-organization process is dominated by the shadowing of taller grains, moving towards the conventional erosive regime for longer sputtering times. The grain boundaries do not affect the propagation of nanoscale ripples across individual grains.
COBISS.SI-ID: 708010
Studies of the glancing incidence Ar+ defocused ion beam induced self-organized patterning of polycrystalline metal films on dielectric substrates show that a nonflat initial surface morphology plays a critical role in triggering self-organization during the early stages, where the distribution of polycrystalline grains initially imposes a nonstochastic spatial modulation of the ion impact sites. At longer sputtering times an erosive regime sets in. On the nonflat films the ion dose required for the formation of the nanoscale patterns is reduced compared to the initially flat film.
COBISS.SI-ID: 693418