Volume: Page/Article: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Article Collection: View Collection Help (Click on the Check Box to add an article.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 57?60 (1993) [Issue 1 ? 4 January 1993 ] [ Previous article | Next article | Issue 1 contents ] Add to article collection View Page Images , Figure Images or PDF (1206 kB) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scanning tunneling microscopy observation of self-affine fractal roughness in ion-bombarded film surfaces J. Krim, I. Heyvaert, C. Van Haesendonck, and Y. Bruynseraede Laboratorium voor Vaste-Stof-Fysika en Magnetisme, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium Received 26 May 1992 We describe a straightforward method for obtaining a precise value for the fractal dimension (self-affine scaling exponent) of a surface, via scanning tunneling microscopy. It is applied to investigate ion-beam erosion of an iron film surface, provoding strong support for the applicability of scaling theory to submicron erosion processes. A self-affine surface with scaling exponent H=0.53±0.02 is observed to develop. ©1993 The American Physical Society URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v70/p57 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.70.57 PACS: 68.55.Jk, 68.35.Bs, 79.20.Rf ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Add to article collection View Page Images , Figure Images or PDF (1206 kB) [ Previous article | Next article | Issue 1 contents ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ References (Reference links marked with dot may require a separate subscription.) 1. M. Sikkens, I. J. Hodgkinson, F. Horowitz, H. A. Macleod and J. Wharton, Opt. Eng. 25, 142 (1986) [dot INSPEC ]. 2. For recent reviews, see P. Meakin, Prog. Solid State Chem. 20, 135 (1990) [dot INSPEC ]; F. Family, Physica (Amsterdam) 168A, 561 (1990); J. Krug and H. Spohn, in Solids Far from Equilibrium: Growth Morphology and Defects, edited by C. Godriche (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1990). 3. T. Vicsek, Fractal Growth Phenomena (World Scientific, Singapore, 1989). 4. B. B. Mandelbrot, The Fractal Geometry of Nature (Freeman, New York, 1982). 5. G. S. Bales, R. Bruinsma, E. A. Eklund, R. P. Karunasiri, J. Rudnick and A. Zangwill, Science 249, 264 (1990) [dot INSPEC ]. 6. R. Bruinsma (unpublished). 7. F. Family and T. Vicsek, J. Appl. Phys. A 18, L75 (1985). 8. Erosion and Growth of Solids Stimulated by Atoms and Ion Beams, edited by G. Kiriakidis, G. Carter, and J. L. Whitton (Martinus Nijoff, Dordrecht, 1986). 9. S. Hoffmann, in Practical Surface Analysis, edited by D. Briggs and M. P. Seah (Wiley, New York, 1990), 2nd ed. 10. M. P. Seah and C. Lea, Thin Solid Films 81, 257 (1981) [dot INSPEC ]; A. Zalar and S. Hoffmann, Vacuum 37, 169 (1987) [dot INSPEC ]. 11. C. A. Lang, C. F. Quate and J. Nogami, Appl. Phys. Lett. 59, 1696 (1991) [dot INSPEC ]. 12. T. Michely, K. H. Besocke and G. Compsa, Surf. Sci. Lett. 230, L135 (1990) [dot INSPEC ]. 13. E. A. Eklund, R. Bruinsma, J. Rudnick and R. S. Williams, Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 1759 (1991) . 14. J. Chevrier, V. Le Thanh, R. Buys and J. Derrien, Europhys. Lett. 16, 737 (1991) [dot INSPEC ]. 15. M. W. Mitchell and D. A. Bonnell, J. Mater. Res. 5, 2244 (1990) [dot SPIN ][dot INSPEC ]; The fractal dimension in this publication is written as D = 2-H, rather than D = 3-H, since profiles embedded in two (rather than three) spatial dimensions are analyzed. 16. B. Mandelbrot, D. Passoja and A. Paullay, Nature (London) 308, 721 (1986) [dot INSPEC ]. 17. Sycon Instruments Inc., East Syracuse, NY, (315)463-5297; 6-MHz quartz-crystal unit for deposition rate monitors. 18. P. Pfeifer, Y. J. Wu, M. W. Cole and J. Krim, Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 1997 (1989) . 19. V. Panella and J. Krim (unpublished). 20. R. Chiarello, V. Panella, J. Krim and C. Thompson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 3408 (1991) . 21. M. Kardar, G. Parisi and Y. Zhang, Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 889 (1986) [SPIRES ]. 22. D. E. Wolf and J. Villain, Europhys. Lett. 13, 389 (1990) [dot INSPEC ]. 23. Z. W. Lai and S. Das Sarma, Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 2348 (1991) . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Add to article collection View Page Images , Figure Images or PDF (1206 kB) [Show Articles Citing This One] Requires Subscription [ Previous article | Next article | Issue 1 contents ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ APS | APS Journals | PROLA Homepage | Browse | Search ]