SWIFT HEAVY ION INDUCED NANOHILL FORMATION ON THE SURFACE OF GaP
Gallium phosphide ( GaP ) samples were irradiated with swift (100 MeV)56 Fe 9+ ions for various ion fluences varying from 1 × 1011 to 1 × 1014 cm -2. Atomic force microscopy, Raman scattering, and X-ray diffraction techniques have been used to investigate the irradiation effect. Atomic force microscopy studies showed the presence of nanosized hills separated with valleys at the surface of irradiated gallium phosphide. The average diameters of hills were found to be 19.76, 19.81, 20.70, and 22.64 nm for ion fluences 5 × 1012, 1 × 1013, 5 × 1013, and 1 × 1014 cm -2, respectively. Root mean square surface roughness analysis has been used to characterize the nature of the surface under swift heavy ion irradiation. The features observed in the Raman spectra at 402.18 cm-1 and 365.05 cm-1 were assigned to the characteristic first-order longitudinal optical (LO) phonon mode and transverse optical (TO) phonon mode of gallium phosphide, respectively. We have also observed the second-order overtones and combinations of optical modes giving rise to three characteristic peaks in the region between 700 and 800 cm-1. X-ray diffraction technique has been used to determine the crystallite size. The crystallite size was found to decrease with increase in ion fluence.