Smoothing of polycrystalline AlN thin films with argon cluster ions

The possibility of surface modification of thin polycrystalline aluminum nitride films by bombardment with argon cluster ion beam is investigated. The processing was carried out with high- (105 eV/atom) and low-energy (10 eV/atom) cluster ions. Using the spectral function of roughness, a highly efficient smoothing of the surface of nanostructured thin films of aluminum nitride was demonstrated in a wide range of spatial frequencies ($\nu$ = 0.02–128 $\mu$m$^{-1}$) and at small etching depth ($<$ 100 nm).