Scanning tunneling microscopy of ion impacts on semiconductor surfaces

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Abstract
The effects of individual ion impacts on the surfaces of two semiconductors Si(100) and PbS(100) were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). As+ and Ge+ ions ranging in energies from 20 keV to 1 MeV were implanted into Si(100) through a SiO2 layer. STM was performed after removal of the SiO2 by HF etching. Kr+ ions of 8 keV bombarded freshly cleaved PbS(100) surfaces at 45° incidence. Atomically resolved STM images of the impact zone were obtained in this case. Low ion doses ∼1011 cm−2 were used throughout to avoid overlap of cascades. Surface features observed by STM include craters, structural disorder, and surface print defects. There is a 1:1 correlation between the number of ion impacts and the number of craters. The mean crater diameter correlates with the lateral extent of nuclear energy deposition at the surface.

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