  We present ion beam erosion experiments performed in ultra high vacuum using
a differentially pumped ion source and taking care that the ion beam hits the
Si(001) sample only. Under these conditions no ion beam patterns form on Si for
angles below 45 degrees with respect to the global surface normal using 2 keV
Kr ions and fluences of 2 x 10^22 ions/m^2. In fact, the ion beam induces a
smoothening of preformed patterns. Simultaneous sputter deposition of stainless
steel in this angular range creates a variety of patterns, similar to those
previously ascribed to clean ion beam induced destabilization of the surface
profile. Only for grazing incidence with incident angles between 60 degrees and
83 degrees pronounced ion beam patterns form. It appears that the angular
dependent stability of Si(001) against pattern formation under clean ion beam
erosion conditions is related to the angular dependence of the sputtering
yield, and not primarily to a curvature dependent yield as invoked frequently
in continuum theory models.
