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Abstract We present a continuum model of ion-induced surface patterning. The model incorporates the atomic processes of sputtering, re-deposition and surface diffusion, and is shown to display the generic features of the damped Kuramoto-Sivashinsky (KS) equation of non-linear dynamics. Linear and non-linear stability analyses of the evolution equation give estimates of the emerging pattern wavelength and spatial symmetry. The analytical theory is confirmed by numerical simulations of the evolution equation with the Fast Fourier Transform method, where we show the influence of the incident ion angle, flux, and substrate surface temperature. It is shown that large local geometry variations resulting in quadratic non-linearities in the evolution equation dominate pattern selection and stability at long time scales.