posted on 2022-12-23, 17:09authored byPaweł Dąbczyński, Benedykt R. Jany, Franciszek Krok, Mateusz M. Marzec, Andrzej Bernasik, Maciej Gala, Katarzyna Sęk, Uwe Breuer, Andrzej Budkowski, Jakub Rysz
The development of topography plays an important role
when low-energy
projectiles are used to modify the surface or analyze the properties
of various materials. It can be a feature that allows one to create
complex structures on the sputtered surface. It can also be a factor
that limits depth resolution in ion-based depth profiling methods.
In this work, we have studied the evolution of microdendrites on poly(methyl
methacrylate) sputtered with a Cs 1 keV ion beam. Detailed analysis
of the topography of the sputtered surface shows a sea of pillars
with islands of densely packed pillars, which eventually evolve to
fully formed dendrites. The development of the dendrites depends on
the Cs fluence and temperature. Analysis of the sputtered surface
by physicochemical methods shows that the mechanism responsible for
the formation of the observed microstructures is reactive ion sputtering.
It originates from the chemical reaction between the target material
and primary projectile and is combined with mass transport induced
by ion sputtering. The importance of chemical reaction for the formation
of the described structures is shown directly by comparing the change
in the surface morphology under the same dose of a nonreactive 1 keV
xenon ion beam.