The bombardment of surfaces with energetic ions has led to the development of various types of surface topography. In one special case, that of graphite, ion bombardment is responsible for the formation of whiskerlike structures. Whiskers formed under ion bombardment exhibit an initial rapid growth process followed by a slower, diffusion‐fed process. The rates of lengthening and thickening during the diffusion‐fed process appear to be constant in time. Whisker length increases nonlinearly with beam energy; population density decreases as beam energy increases. Whiskers grow parallel to the ion beam. Their alignment is apparently dominated by the destruction of nonparallel whiskers rather than electric field effects. Simultaneous impurity seeding inhibits whisker formation and can totally suppress formation if sufficient flux is present. A growth model involving stress relief at recrystallization front junctures qualitatively fits many experimental observations.