Formation of self-organized nano-surfaces on III–V semiconductors by low energy oxygen ion bombardment

Pattern formation on surfaces of III–V compound semiconductors GaAs, GaSb, and InSb by O2+ ion sputtering was studied. For GaAs, a ripple pattern was observed under a 2-keV primary beam energy for two ion fluences, i.e., 3.1×1018 ions/cm2 and 5.4×1018 ions/cm2. The pattern wavelengths were 175 nm and 200.2 nm. A bubble-like structure was observed on the GaSb surface bombarded with 1-keV and 2-keV oxygen ions. In the case of InSb, several pyramidal structures with sub-micrometer dimensions were observed when the ion energy was 1 keV. When the ion energy was increased to 2 keV, the pyramidal structures acquired micrometer dimensions and a ripple pattern with a wavelength of 246 nm was observed in the surrounding area.