Ion-induced formation of regular nanostructures on amorphous GaSb surfaces

Crystalline and amorphous GaSb surfaces are compared concerning their response to sputter erosion with low energy Ar+ ions under normal incidence. We show that the formation of regular nanostructures on GaSb is basically independent of whether the initial material is crystalline or amorphous. The similarity in the temporal and spatial evolution demonstrates that the dynamics of the morphology evolution is entirely controlled by a thin amorphous surface layer. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.