The effect of Ehrlich–Schwoebel step-edge barrier on the formation of self-organized Si nanodots by ion-sputter erosion

The ion flux dependence of the self-organized Si nanodots induced by 1.5 keV Ar+ ion sputter erosion has been studied. It shows that for the regime with ion flux > 280 mA/cm2, the currently adopted Bradley–Harper (BH) model, which is incorporated in a dynamic continuum equation holds valid. However, for ion flux < 280 mA/cm2, the measured dot size and surface roughness deviate drastically from the BH model. To interpret the data for this lower ion flux regime, the effect of the Ehrlich–Schwoebel (ES) step-edge barrier was introduced into the continuum equation. A consistency between the calculated and the experimental results was reached, furthermore, a reasonable trend was found, that is, the effective ES diffusion decreases steadily with the increasing ion flux, and at 280 mA/cm2, it became negligibly small