Relief evolution of HOPG under high-fluence 30 keV argon ion irradiation

The results of the experimental study of sputtering and erosion of the basal plane of HOPG under irradiation with 30-keV Ar⁺ in the range from RT to 400 °C are presented. It has been found that developed at elevated (⩾250 °C) temperatures needle-like microscopic relief results in twofold sputtering yield increase (Y ≈ 2) in comparison with sputtering of a surface with an etch pits microscopic relief at the temperatures less than the ion-induced texture transition temperature T_t ≈ 150 °C. The effects of ion-induced graphite relief on high-dose sputtering have been studied using binary-collision computer simulation. The relief was modeled as a sine function surface along two mutually perpendicular surface axes. The simulation has shown that at some parameters of the relief the essential part of the bombarding ions undergoes inclined incidence on the walls of surface hillocks, which increases the density of ion-atom collisions near the surface and, correspondingly, the ejection of atoms. This effect leads to non-monotonic behavior of the sputtering yield on the relief aspect ratio (amplitude/period). The sputtering yield decreases upon reaching the maximum at aspect ratio of 4, and becomes lower than that for a flat surface. The simulation permits to estimate the relation of amplitude to period of relief at T < T_t