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A. El-Said, R. Wilhelm, R. Heller, M. Sorokin, S. Facsko, F. Aumayr:
"Tuning the fabrication of nanostructures by low-energy highly charged ions";
Physical Review Letters, 117 (2016), 126101; 1 - 5.

Slow highly charged ions have been utilized recently for the creation of monotype surface nanostructures
(craters, calderas, or hillocks) in different materials. In the present study, we report on the ability of slow
highly charged xenon ions (129XeQþ) to form three different types of nanostructures on the LiF(100)
surface. By increasing the charge state from Q ¼ 15 to Q ¼ 36, the shape of the impact induced
nanostructures changes from craters to hillocks crossing an intermediate stage of caldera structures. A
dimensional analysis of the nanostructures reveals an increase of the height up to 1.5 nm as a function of the
potential energy of the incident ions. Based on the evolution of both the geometry and size of the created
nanostructures, defect-mediated desorption and the development of a thermal spike are utilized as creation
mechanisms of the nanostructures at low and high charge states, respectively.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.126101