Ion beam erosion of amorphous materials: evolution of surface morphology

In this work we present our results concerning the formation of self-organized nanoscale structures during the bombardment with a low-energy defocused Ar ion beam. We studied glass surfaces because of their physical properties, technological interest and cheapness. The evolution of sample surface was studied ex situ by atomic force microscopy. We found, in agreement with Bradley and Harper, a morphology characterized by a regular ripple structure with the wave vector perpendicular or parallel to the ion beam direction. This structure periodicity was found to vary in the range 90-350 nm with a linear time evolution. In order to gain further information about the sputtering process and for comparison with the existing continuum theories of surface erosion, we studied the scaling behaviour of surface roughness.