The surface of high fluence ion-sputtered Si(111) was found to exhibit a rich variety of transient one- and two-dimensional topographies that may be exploited as tunable self-organized arrays of nanostructures. Such transient effects are only partially described by analytical models of sputter patterning. However, a discrete atom kinetic Monte Carlo simulation model incorporating curvature-dependent sputtering and surface diffusion reproduces many aspects of the transient morphological evolution, and clarifies the minimal model of sputter patterning.

• Received 29 October 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.056101