Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of self organized nanostructures on Ta Surface Fabricated by Low Energy Ion Sputtering

Surfaces bombarded with low energy ion beams often display development of self assembled patterns and quasi-periodic structures. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to describe ion sputtered Tantalum surfaces. A weak nonlinearity in the relaxation process has been introduced and the results show that the Positive Schwoebel barrier, produced by the nonlinear Hamiltonian, is necessary in describing ion bombarded Tantalum surfaces. Furthermore, their scaling exponents suggest presence of a class other than KPZ.