| Crystalline Si, SiC, InAs, InP, Ge, GaAs, GaSb and GaN are bombarded with electrosprayed nanodroplets. Sputtering yield/rate and roughness are measured in terms of droplet acceleration voltage. The maximum values of sputtering yield versus acceleration potential and the corresponding sputtering rates are determined. Sputtering rate increases with acceleration potential, especially for GaSb and Ge. As droplet acceleration increases, the roughness of the bombarded surface first increases, it then reaches a maximum and finally decreases. This trend is particularly noticeable for Si. The influence of electrospray exposure on roughness and sputtered volume is analyzed for Si. Longer beam exposure intensifies roughness, especially as the projectile acceleration is raised. Sputtered volume is linearly proportional to beam exposure. These two phenomena are less noticeable when the substrate surface is specular.;A silicon wafer is bombarded with electrosprayed nanodroplets for varying droplet acceleration potential. Cross-sectional samples of the bombarded surfaces are inspected via TEM. Amorphous layers are generated for sufficiently energetic impacts. The layer scaled thickness grows with droplet speed. Two different regimes are found: a high speed regime, in which the thickness is maximum and approximately constant, and a lower speed regime, in which the thickness grows with quadratic behavior. According to available numerical results, the high speed regime corresponds to amorphization by melting and ultrafast quenching of a thin layer of the substrate. The intermediate speed regime seems to be a transition between a low speed regime, where amorphization is likely caused by the accumulation of dislocations, and the high speed regime. |
