“…[17]). Such a close dependence of the sputtering yield on ion fluence was ascribed to the Bi target material nature and to the changes induced by ion irradiation in its surface topography and crystalline structure at a microscopic level [17,[27][28][29]. In the case of tens keV Ar + incident ions, where nuclear and electronic energy losses amount to comparable magnitudes, we assumed a rather complex interplay between elastic and inelastic collision processes for interpreting the observed surface effects induced in Bi thin films [17,18], although mechanisms involving mainly elastic collisions could be dominating.…”