He diffraction study of the time decay of ripple structures on ion bombarded Ag(1 1 0)

The morphological equilibration of the rippled (1 1 0) surface of silver is investigated using thermal energy He atom scattering. After ion sputtering at grazing incidence and at a crystal temperature around 210 K a well defined ripple structure with ridges oriented along the incoming ion beam direction is observed. The evolution with time of this structure is followed at different surface temperatures in the range between 170 and 220 K to gain information on the ripple stability and on the diffusion processes contributing to ripple decay.