Ion beam texturing

A microscopic surface texture was created by sputter-etching a surface while simultaneously sputter-depositing a lower sputter yield material onto the surface. A xenon ion-beam source was used to perform the texturing process on samples as large as 3-cm diameter. Textured surfaces have been characterized with SEM photomicrographs for a large number of materials including Cu, Al, Si, Ti, Ni, Fe, stainless steel, Au, and Ag. A number of texturing parameters are studied including the variation of texture with ion-beam powder, surface temperature, and the rate of texture growth with sputter etching time.