Investigations of ripple pattern formation on Germanium surfaces using 100-keV Ar(+) ions

We have investigated the formation of nanoripples on the surface of germanium, Ge(100), due to the effect of 100-keV Ar (+) ion irradiation. The irradiation was carried out at different incidence angles from 0° to 75° in steps of 15° with respect to the surface normal with a fixed ion fluence of approximately 3 × 10(17) ions/cm(2). Atomic force micrographs show an increase in surface roughness from 0.5 to 4.3 nm for the pristine sample and the sample irradiated at 60° incidence angle due to cos(-1)(θ) dependence on sputtering yield. With increase in angle of incidence, there is transition observed from nanodots to aligned nanodots perpendicular to the direction of the beam. There is an increase in size of the nanostructures observed from 44 to 103 nm with angle of incidence. The formation of nanoripples initiates at an angle of θ ~ 45°. Ripple pattern formation has taken place on the Ge surface in the energy regime of 100 keV as compared to the other reports which had been carried out using very low energy ions. Raman spectra reveal that the near surface of crystalline Ge samples becomes amorphous due to interaction of Ar(+) ions due to creation of defects through collision cascades.