Compositional Investigation of Nano-patterned Si Surface Induced by Metal-assisted Ion Beam Sputtering: An Advanced Study

Fabrication of nano-patterned Si surface with simultaneous metal co-deposition is demonstrated using low energy ion beam sputtering at normal incidence by the inclusion of stainless steel as seeding material for different sputtering times at room temperature. The nano-patterned surfaces generated at such a low energy range using ion beam are considered to be potential candidates in various fields of nano-technological applications. Herein the evolution of nano-dots topography on the Si surface has been observed from the morphological analysis. Investigation of chemical states from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurement reveals the presence of metal impurities viz. Fe and Cr originating from the stainless steel target. The high-resolution XPS core level spectra of the detected elements are characterized and subsequent analysis of their compositional details indicates the formation of metal-oxide and metal-silicide on the sample surface.