Wavy surface nanostructures formed in amorphous silicon films by sputtering with nitrogen ions

Wavy nanostructures are formed on the ion-bombarded surface of single-crystal and amorphous silicon films prepared by various methods. The period and depth of this structure have been determined as functions of the angle of incidence and the energy of nitrogen ions used for the surface sputtering. A comparative analysis of SEM images of the wavy surface nanostructures on various silicon films has been performed using a two-dimensional Fourier transform. The films of amorphous silicon obtained by electron beam deposition and magnetron sputtering techniques are closest to single-crystal silicon films with respect to the wavy surface nanostructure formation.