Ultralow-energy amorphization of contaminated silicon samples investigated by molecular dynamics.

Ion beam processes related to focused ion beam milling, surface patterning, and secondary ion mass spectrometry require precision and control. Quality and cleanliness of the sample are also crucial factors. Furthermore, several domains of nanotechnology and industry use nanoscaled samples that need to be controlled to an extreme level of precision. To reduce the irradiation-induced damage and to limit the interactions of the ions with the sample, low-energy ion beams are used because of their low implantation depths. Yet, low-energy ion beams come with a variety of challenges. When such low energies are used, the residual gas molecules in the instrument chamber can adsorb on the sample surface and impact the ion beam processes. In this paper we pursue an investigation on the effects of the most common contaminant, water, sputtered by ultralow-energy ion beams, ranging from 50 to 500 eV and covering the full range of incidence angles, using molecular dynamics simulations with the ReaxFF potential. We show that the expected sputtering yield trends are maintained down to the lowest sputtering yields. A region of interest with low damage is obtained for incidence angles around 60° to 75°. We also demonstrate that higher energies induce a larger removal of the water contaminant and, at the same time, induce an increased amorphization, which leads to a trade-off between sample cleanliness and damage.

Influence of water contamination on the sputtering of silicon with low-energy argon ions investigated by molecular dynamics simulations.

Focused ion beams (FIB) are a common tool in nanotechnology for surface analysis, sample preparation for electron microscopy and atom probe tomography, surface patterning, nanolithography, nanomachining, and nanoprinting. For many of these applications, a precise control of ion-beam-induced processes is essential. The effect of contaminations on these processes has not been thoroughly explored but can often be substantial, especially for ultralow impact energies in the sub-keV range. In this paper we investigate by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations how one of the most commonly found residual contaminations in vacuum chambers (i.e., water adsorbed on a silicon surface) influences sputtering by 100 eV argon ions. The incidence angle was changed from normal incidence to close to grazing incidence. For the simulation conditions used in this work, the adsorption of water favours the formation of defects in silicon by mixing hydrogen and oxygen atoms into the substrate. The sputtering yield of silicon is not significantly changed by the contamination, but the fraction of hydrogen and oxygen atoms that is sputtered largely depends on the incidence angle. This fraction is the largest for incidence angles between 70 and 80° defined with respect to the sample surface. Overall, it changes from 25% to 65%.