Growth of the fractal patterns in Ni-Zr thin films during ion-solid interaction

Abstract

An experimental study of the growth of fractal patterns during ion beam-solid interaction in the Ni-Zr alloy system is reported. The observed fractal patterns in the alloy films feature both isotropic and anisotropic characters depending on their growth surroundings. The fractal dimension of the isotropic fractal patterns is determined to be 1.4±0.1. The possible growth mechanism of the observed patterns is discussed.