Study of pattern transition in nanopatterned Si(100) produced by impurity-assisted low-energy ion-beam erosion

In this work, formation of self-organized Si nanostructures induced by pure Fe incorporation during normal incidence low-energy (1keV) Ar $$^+$$ ion bombardment is presented. It has been observed that the incorporation of Fe affects the evolution of the surface topography. The addition of Fe generates pronounced nanopatterns, such as dots, ripples and combinations of dots and ripples. The orientation of the ripple wave vector of the patterns formed is found to be in a direction normal to the Fe flow. The nanoripples with wavelength of the order of 39 nm produced is expected to be the lowest wavelength of the patterns reported on ion-beam-eroded structures under the incorporation of metallic impurities as per our knowledge. From the AFM and GISAXS analysis, it has been confirmed that the ripples formed are asymmetric in nature. The effect of the concentration of the Fe on morphological transition of the patterns has been studied using Rutherford backscattering measurements.