STM analyses of surface phenomena in Si(1 0 0) under proton irradiation

Detailed investigation of surface phenomena (sputtering, blistering, flaking) at silicon irradiated with 700 keV protons to fluences in the range of 1016–1018 p/cm2 was carried out with the help of an open-air scanning tunneling microscope of original design. Multiple STM images of irradiated sample surfaces containing both intact and broken blisters were analyzed, and their distributions by sizes and evolution under thermal annealing estimated.