Nanostructuring of Ta2O5 surfaces by low energy Ar+ bombardment

Abstract The surface modifications undergoing on a Ta2O5 surface bombarded with Ar+ have been studied using surface analysis techniques (XPS, ARXPS and AFM). It has been observed that ion bombardment produces an altered layer composed of Ta suboxides as a consequence of the preferential sputtering of oxygen atoms. ARXPS measurements carried out on the bombarded surfaces can be explained using a model in which the altered layer consist of suboxide islands, with coverage 85% and thickness 2.88 nm. Moreover, AFM measurements show that ion bombardment leads to the formation of short-range hexagonal order nanostructures with characteristic parameters fully consistent with those found in ARXPS for the island model, therefore indicating the close relationship between the nanostructuring of the surface and the altered layer formed during bombardment.