Sputtering—a review of some recent experimental and theoretical aspects

After a brief outline of the present sputtering theory for a random solid, recent results of the sputtering yieldS for polycrystalline targets are discussed, in particular in view of the influence of the projectile mass and the bombarding angle. The angle dependence ofS at low bombarding energies, and results on the angular distribution of sputtered particles for oblique ion incidence point out necessary modifications of present sputtering theories with respect to the anisotropy of the collision cascades in the solid and the influence of the target surface. The energy distribution of the neutral particles ejected along the target normals is related to the theoretically predictedE ^?2-distribution of low energy recoils in the Recent mass spectrometric studies of postionized sputtered neutrals are discussed in view of the formation of sputtered molecules and the application of sputtered neutral mass spectroscopy for surface analysis. Finally, the paper deals with ion-induced surface effects on non-elementary sputtering targets, and the protracted removal of foreign atoms from a matrix.