Speaker
Description
The irradiation of a solid surface with a broad beam of low energy ions generates mobile vacancies and ad-atoms by erosive and ballistic effects. Surface erosion, ballistic and diffusive transport of the mobile ad-atoms and vacancies occur simultaneously and are each influenced by various system parameters. Due to this mass transport, the mobile species can self-assemble during continued ion irradiation into nanostructure patterns, following crystal structure, surface topography, and ion beam direction. Control of system parameters like the solid composition, crystal structure, surface temperature, ion mass and kinetic energy, or ion incidence angle allows for control of the resulting topographical pattern morphologies.
A wide variety of materials is sensitive to ion irradiation and a multitude of pattern morphologies with feature sizes in the range from some tens to a few hundreds of nanometers can be obtained. Investigations by AFM (ex-situ) and x-ray scattering (in-situ) show how they depend on the above system parameters and reveal the patterning dynamics. The patterning process is easy to implement and up-scaling the patterned surface area is straightforward. Applications can be found in nanopatterning by templating of various functional materials such as plasmonic structures, thermoelectrics, DNA origami, magnetic thin films, or catalysts.
We will present an introduction to ion-beam-induced surface nanopatterning, an overview of observed pattern morphologies and options for modification, as well as previously realized applications. We offer discussion on potential collaborations and exploration of further potential applications.