Ion-Surface Interactions

The interaction of energetic ions (hyperthermal) with surfaces plays an important role in the field of surface science. Relevant topics are the ionization of atomic particles at surfaces, the modification of surfaces and surface analysis.

Examples of surface modification with ion beams

	direct ion beam deposition (e. g., diamond films)
	deposition of thin films by sputtering
	surface reactions with energetic ions (e.g., plasma processing)
	doping of materials by ion implantation
	cleaning of surfaces by sputtering

Examples of surface analysis with ion beams

	sputtering for depth profiling with surface analysis techniques like AES, XPS, etc.
	materials analysis by backscattering of ions (RBS, LEIS or ISS, MEIS,etc.)
	materials analysis by energy analysis of sputtered (recoil) ions
	materials analysis by mass analysis of sputtered (recoil) ions (SIMS)
	surface electronic structure by ion-neutralization spectroscopy

Ion beam concepts

	Conservation laws (kinematics): energy and momentum, for binary collisions
	Interatomic potentials that determine the scattering trajectories for a given energy and impact parameter.
	Binary collision approximation and its limits, quasi-single scattering.
	Multiple scattering (multiple collisions) in solids.
	Collision cascades of recoil atoms.

Particle-Solid Interactions Resources

This web site at U. Va. has lots of useful links for research on ion-solid interactions.

Computer simulations

TRIM software to simulate ion-solid interactions, made by Dr. Jim Ziegler when he was at IBM Research Labs at Yorktown Heights, NY. Download from the SRIM site. It runs on PC-type computers.

The TRIM software is straightforward but it is important to know the limitations. For instance, the program gives wrong results if the incidence angle is a few degrees from the surface. Also, there are many uncertainties involved in the calculation of sputtering, that need to be understood to ascertain the uncertainty in the output of the simulation.

Class notes:

Sputtering: sputtering notes.pdf

Sputter depth profiling: depthprofiling.pdf

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry: SIMS notes.pdf

FIB images (from FEI Focus, FEI Company)