Surface Damage of Compound Semiconductors by Ion Sputtering

Abstract

It is well known that ion sputtering induces surface damages on compound semiconductors. These damages are observed as the surface composition and the surface topography changes the extent of which depends on the kinds of materials. For example, indium islands on an argon ion bombarded InP surface grow due to the nucleation kinetics of free indium atoms created by preferential sputtering. Here we report the topics of the surface damage.