Ion beam pattering of nano-gratings on SiC surface

Morphological evolution of 6H-SiC (0001) surface induced by elastic Ar+ ions collisions has been studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Ion irradiation was performed at an angle of 60° with respect to the surface normal of the samples. Dual-dots appear at SiC surface at initial ion fluence (ϕ) of 6 × 1016 cm− 2, while the surface undergoes a self-organization into wavy grating-like ripples features at higher ϕ values. These features show a visual dispersion behavior for white light. Observed features such as amplitude and wavelength of the ripples are explained by taking into account the linear continuum model of Bradley and Harper (BH) and its subsequent modifications.