Energy distributions of copper ions and atoms sputtered by atomic and molecular ions

Abstract

Non-resonant multiphoton ionization combined with quadrupole and time-of-flight analysis has been used to study sputtering by both atomic and molecular ion beams. The mass spectra and energy distributions of both sputtered atoms and secondary ions produced by 3.6 keV , , , and ion bombardment at to a polycrystalline copper target have been measured. The energy distributions of the copper ions and atoms are found to be different and quite complex. The ion distributions can generally be described by a linear collision cascade model, with possible evidence for a knock-on contribution. The sputtered atom distributions are partially described by a combination of linear collision cascade and dense cascade (thermal spike) models. This is interpreted as support for a time-evolving sputtering mechanism.

Desorption of cluster ions from solid Ne by low-energy ion impact

“…Unfortunately, these dependencies are poorly understood, at least for condensed rare gas targets, thus, a detailed theoretical analysis of the ion energy distribution remains a difficult challenge. Nevertheless, it is possible to find traces of the desorption process in the characteristic behaviors and features of the ion energy distribution [32][33][34][35][36][37].…”