[Zurück]

C. Pieczetowski, A.S. El-Said, W. Meissl, M. Simon, J.R. Crespo López-Urrutia, I. Gebeshuber, Hp. Winter, M. Lang, J. Ullrich, F. Aumayr:
"Ambient AFM investigation of nanostructures on CaF_{2} single crystals induced by slow highly charged Argon and Xe ions";
Poster: 56. Jahrestagung der Österr. Physikalischen Gesellschaft (ÖPG), TU Graz; 20.09.2006; in: "56. Jahrestagung der Österreichischen Gesellschaft", (2006), S. 105.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a convenient method to study nanostructures on
insulating atomically flat surfaces. We have irradiated freshly cleaved CaF2 (111) surfaces
with slow (v < 1 a.u.) highly charged ions from the Heidelberg Electron Beam
Ion Trap facility, transferred the samples to Vienna and investigated them with our
ambient AFM. This was feasible because - like for other ionic fluoride single crystals -
ion-induced surface structures in CaF2 are known to be stable under atmospheric conditions
at room temperature. Topographic AFM images show the generation of nanosized
hillocks protruding from the surface. The number of hillocks per unit area stays
in good agreement with the applied ion flux. We discuss the role of potential energy as
well as compare our results with observations for swift heavy ion irradiations of CaF2
single crystals.