Swift heavy ion induced topography changes of Tin oxide thin films

Monodisperse tin oxide nanocrystalline thin films are grown on silicon substrates by electron beam evaporation method followed by 100 MeV silver ion bombardment with varying ion fluence from 5 × 1011 ions cm−2 to 1 × 1013 ions cm−2 at constant ion flux. Enhancement of crystallinity of thin films with fluence is observed from glancing angle X-ray diffraction studies. Morphological studies by atomic force microscopy reveal the changes in grain size from 25 nm to 44 nm with variation in ion fluence. The effect of initial surface roughness and adatom mobility on topography is reported. In this work correlation between ion beam induced defect concentration with topography and grain size distribution is emphasized.

► In this work the grain size and surface roughness of nanocrystalline SnO2 thin film are presented as a function of ion fluence. ► Swift heavy ion irradiation induces point defects in SnO2 which act as nucleation centers for nanocrystallization. ► The variation of defect concentration with ion fluence is correlated to the observed surface morphology and structural changes in SnO2 thin films.