Morphology of sputtering damage on Cu (111) studied by scanning tunneling microscopy

The morphology of Cu(111) after bombardment with 1 keV Ar ions and its dependence on temperature have been investigated using STM. Qualitative agreement is found with experiments conducted by other groups on Pt(111), but with more pronounced temperature influences. In addition, interlayer mass transport was observed to have a more important effect on Cu(111). The Cu(111) surface only slowly approaches equilibrium shape at room temperature. A series of images illustrates how the surface changes over a period of several hours following ion bombardment.