Mechanisms of cone formation by ion bombardment

In this paper, cone formation due to the sputtering of CuAg alloy and cylindrical geometry solids (amorphous and crystalline wires) bombarded by Ar+ ions has been considered. Two basic mechanisms which apply to the bombarded alloy surface are: different sputtering rate of alloy components and different defect concentration and stopping power along the ion range in the crystal. The results also show previously reported mechanisms of cone formation such as a masking effect of impurity atoms and the angular dependence of sputtering. (orig.)