Experiments on the sputtering of neutral Cu2 dimers from Cu by Ar+ ions (60–300 eV)

A planar polycrystalline copper target was bombarded normally by Ar⁺ ions with energies ranging from 60 to 300 eV. in the source of a mass spectrometer. The neutral particles sputtered normally from the target were post-ionized and analyzed in the mass spectrometer. A thermionically sustained, magnetically confined low pressure arc plasma was used to supply the bombarding ions, and for post-ionization of the neutral sputtered species. It was found that the relative yields of the sputtered neutral post-ionized Cu₂ dimers are linearly proportional to S², where S is the total sputtering yield for Ar⁺ -Cu. The results support the recombination model for the formation of neutral dimers in sputtering.     

Low energy sputtering of neutral Cu2 molecules

The ratios of relative yields of neutral sputtered Cu₂ molecules to neutral sputtered Cu atoms were found to be linearly proportional to the sputtering yield of Cu, from a Cu target under bombardment by Ar⁺ ions (energy 50–90 eV), as determined by secondary neutral mass spectrometry.     

A new technique for the measurement of sputtering yields

We have measured the yields of 90 keV ⁴⁰Ar⁺ and V⁴He⁺ sputtering of Mo and V samples by the use of a new radio-tracer technique. This technique involves activating the samples by high-energy charged-particle irradiation before sputtering, and using conventional γ-ray counting methods to analyze the material subsequently sputtered onto collector foils. We have also measured angular distributions of the sputtered material, and compared these results and our total sputtering yields with the predictions of Sigmund's sputtering theory. Further comparisons between our radiotracer results and those obtained for ⁴⁰Ar⁺ sputtering of unactivated Mo and V samples, determined from elastic backscattering measurements using 12 MeV ¹⁶O ions, show that the techniques give consistent results.     

Mass spectrometry of neutral molecules sputtered from polycrystalline metals by Ar+-ions of 100–1000 eV

The flux of neutral particles sputtered from clean polycrystalline targets of 11 metals has been studied by mass spectrometry after being postionized in a low pressure hf plasma. Besides atoms Me₁, postionized metal molecules Me₂ and Me₃ have been detected. The energyE ₀ of the bombarding Ar⁺ ions has been varied between 100 and 1000 eV. Considering the different plasma influences, an attempt is made to obtain the initial composition of the beam of sputtered neutrals from the ratiosR ₂₁ andR ₃₁ of postionized molecules Me₂ and Me₃ to postionized atoms, Me₁, respectively. The influence of the bombarding energyE ₀ onR ₂₁ has been measured for all target elements, onR ₃₁ for Pd and Ag. The yields of Me₂ atE ₀=1 keV approximately appear to be proportional to the square of the total sputtering yieldS for the different target materials. This behaviour and the energy dependence ofR ₂₁ andR ₃₁ are discussed in view of a possible molecule formation process in sputtering.     

Experimental and theoretical investigations into the origin of cross-contamination effects observed in a quadrupole-based SIMS instrument

The minimum-detection limits achievable in SIMS analyses are often determined by transport of material from surrounding surfaces to the bombarded sample. This cross-contamination (or memory) effect was studied in great detail, both experimentally and theoretically. The measurements were performed using a quadrupole-based ion microprobe operated at a secondary-ion extraction voltage of less than 200 V (primary ions mostly 8keV O ₂ ⁺ ). It was found that the flux of particles liberated from surrounding surfaces consists of neutrals as well as positive and negative ions. Contaminant species condensing on the bombarded sample could be discriminated from other backsputtered species through differences in their apparent energy spectra and by other means. The apparent concentration due to material deposited on the sample surface was directly proportional to the bombarded area. For an area of 1 mm² the maximum apparent concentration of Si in GaAs amounted to 5 × 10¹⁶atoms/cm³. The rate of contamination decreased strongly with increasing spacing between the bombarded sample and the collector. The intensities of backsputtered ions and neutrals increased strongly with increasing mass of the target atoms (factor of 10 to 50 due to a change from carbon to gold). The effect of the primary ion mass (O ₂ ⁺ , Ne⁺, and Xe⁺) and energy (5–10keV) was comparatively small. During prolonged bombardment of one particular target material, the rate of contamination due to species not contained in the sample decreased exponentially with increasing fluence. In order to explain the experimental results a model is presented in which the backsputtering effect is attributed to bombardment of surrounding walls by high-energy particles reflected or sputtered from the analysed sample. The level of sample contamination is described by a formula which contains only measurable quantities. Cross-contamination efficiencies are worked out in detail using calculated energy spectra of sputtered and reflected particles in combination with the energy dependence of the sputtering yield of the assumed wall material. The experimental findings are shown to be good agreement with the essential predictions of the model.     

Low energy (⩽ 100 eV) sputtering of thin molybdenum nitride films

Molybdenum nitride films formed by 100 eV N⁺₂ bombardment to saturation of polycrystalline Mo have been sputtered to high fluence by normally incident 100 eV Ar⁺ and He⁺ and 15 eV Ne⁺ while the surface nitrogen concentration was monitored by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The penetration distance of nitrogen atoms during film formation and subsequent sputtering is assumed to be small enough that AES will detect, to some degree, all of the nitrogen in the film. The nitrogen AES signal decays exponentially to unsputterable levels for the 15 eV Ne⁺ and 100 eV He⁺ cases and decays bi-exponentially to near the bulk contamination level for the 100 eV Ar⁺ case. The results are interpreted according to existing concepts, but the kinetics of nitrogen loss is modeled using a two-layer adaptation of the standard model for adsorbate monolayer sputtering kinetics. Fitting our proposed model to the data yields apparent cross-sections which are interpreted as composites of cross-sections for experimentally indistinguishable elementary processes; these elementary cross-sections for each process are geometrical averages on the polycrystalline surface. Processes considered, in addition to nitrogen sputtering, include bombardment-induced transport of nitrogen within the film and sputtering of the Mo lattice itself.     

Sputtering of condensed noble gases by keV ions

Layers of Kr and Xe condensed at ～ 15 K and 35 K have been bombarded by 3-6 keV Ar+, Kr+ and Xe+ ions.

The sputtered neutrals were detected after a 1.43 m flight path by means of a mass spectrometer. Among the sputtered particles are considerable numbers of Van der Waals molecules, like Kr₂, Kr₃, Xe₂ XeKr and XeKr₂. The energy distribution of the sputtered particles give clues to the sputtering mechanisms involved.     

Anomalous enhancement of negative sputtered ion emission by oxygen

Enhancement of negative sputtered ion yields by oxygen (either O⁺₂ bombardment or O₂ gas with Ar⁺ bombardment) is demonstrated for Si^?, As^?, P^?, Ga^?, Cu^? and Au^?, sputtered from a variety of matrices. Because oxygen also enhances positive ion yields of the same species, this effect cannot be simply explained on the basis of existing sputtered ion emission models. To rationalize these phenomena, a surface polarization model is developed which invokes localized electron emissive or electron retentive sites associated with differently oriented surface dipoles in the oxygenated surface. Such sites are considered to dominate the emission of negative and positive ions respectively. The model is shown to correctly predict that Au⁺ and Au^? ion yields are much more strongly enhanced by oxygen in dilute Au-Al alloys than in pure gold.     

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.     

Sputter cleaning and dry oxidation of CdTe,HgTe, and Hg0.8Cd0.2Te surfaces

The analyses of CdTe, HgTe, and Hg_0.8Cd_0.2Te surfaces by XPS and LEED after Ar⁺ sputtering and after the subsequent onset of a dry oxidation are described, and a quantitative evaluation of the XPS spectra is attempted. The results are: Ar⁺ sputtering yields a perfect unreconstructed CdTe surface of stoichiometric composition, whereas the composition of sputtered HgTe and Hg_0.8Cd_0.2Te surfaces generally deviates from the stoichiometry of the respective compound. This deviation is a function of the energy of the Ar ions (1 to 15 keV) and is characterized by an increasing deficit in Hg as the ion energy is raised. The Hg deficit of sputtered Hg_0.8Cd_0.2Te surfaces is substitutionally compensated by an equivalent increase in Cd, and due to this substitution the resulting surfaces are sufficiently ordered to display a distinct LEED pattern. The oxidation of sputtered CdTe, HgTe, and Hg_0.8Cd_0.2Te surfaces in an O₂ atmosphere is an extremely slow process. Therefore, the surfaces to be oxidized were additionally exposed to UV radiation (low pressure mercury lamp), and due to UV generated ozone as an oxidizing agent ultrathin native oxide layers of up to 15 Å thickness were readily obtained. The predominant constituents of these native oxide layers on Hg_0.8Cd_0.2Te are concluded to be CdTeO₃ and TeO₂.     

Sputtering of clusters from nickel-aluminium

A NiAl(1 1 1) single crystal was bombarded with 15 keV Ar⁺, and the resulting secondary neutrals were analysed by laser postionisation secondary neutral mass spectrometry. By measuring the individual cluster photoion intensity as a function of laser power, the sputter yields of 33 individual clusters were determined. The yield of Al_n clusters sputtered from NiAl falls with increasing cluster nuclearity as n^−8.7 while Ni_n and Al_m−nNi_n yields are proportional to n^−5.9 and n^−5.2, respectively. The distribution of thee yields of mixed Al_m−nNi_n clusters with n and m is found to diverge significantly from the expected distribution based on a random combinatorial approach, indicating that the energetics due to the chemical bonding in the clusters plays a significant role during cluster formation in the sputtering process.     

Atomic excitations in sputtering studied with group two element targets

Solid targets of Be, Mg, Zn, and Cd have been bombarded with 50 keV Ar⁺ ions. The relative excitation of the lowest-lying excited levels in sputtered neutrals and singly-charged ions have been measured using optical spectrometry. It is found that singly-charged ions are excited much more efficiently than neutral atoms. This is discussed, and it is concluded that atomic excitation in sputtering results from electron pick-up to excited states in initially ionized atoms rather than from inelastic atom-atom or electron-atom collisions.     

Indium sputtering upon bombardment with cluster ions

A surface-ionization method is developed for measuring the integral yields of neutral particles sputtered under the effect of ion bombardment. An investigation is performed to compare the integral yield of particles sputtered upon bombarding indium with Bi _m ⁺ cluster ions (m = 1?C7) in the energy range of 2?C10 keV and the secondary ion emission under bombardment with Bi _m ⁺ cluster ions (m = 1?C5) in the energy range of 6?C18 keV. A nonadditive increase in the indium sputtering coefficient is observed with an increasing number of atoms in the bombarding clusters.     

Angular distribution of sputtered alloy. Experimental and simulated study

Angular distribution of Cu and Be atoms sputtered from Cu98 Be2 alloy under 5 Kr⁺ ion bombardment were measured at different angle of incidences (0, 30, 70 and 80^○). The sputtered material is collected on a Mylar^TM foil surrounding the target. The used collector was mounted at different ejection angles and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The SRIM-code program was employed to obtain the sputtering yield of Cu and Be from simulated Cu98 Be2 target. The experiment was combined with simulations and revealed that both of them were in a fairly good agreement. Furthermore, angular distribution of differential sputtering yields of both Cu and Be showed over-cosine tendency.     

N2微空心阴极放电特性及其阴极溅射的PIC/MC模拟

采用两维PIC/MCC模型模拟了氮气微空心阴极放电以及轰击离子 (N₂⁺,N⁺) 的钛阴极溅射. 主要计算了氮气微空心阴极放电离子 (N₂⁺,N⁺) 及溅射原子Ti的行为分布, 并研究了溅射Ti 原子的热化过程. 结果表明: 在模拟条件下, 空心阴极效应是负辉区叠加的电子震荡; 在对应条件下, 微空心较传统空心放电两种离子 (N₂⁺,N⁺) 密度均大两个量级, 两种离子的平均能量的分布及大小几乎相同; 在放电空间N⁺的密度约为N₂⁺的1/6, 最大能量约大2倍; 在不同参数 (P, T, V)下, 轰击阴极内表面的氮离子(N₂⁺,N⁺)的密度近似均匀, 其平均能量几乎相等; 从阴极溅射出的Ti原子的初始平均能量约6.8 eV, 离开阴极约0.15 mm处几乎完全被热化. 模拟结果为N₂微空心阴极放电等离子体特性的认识提供了参考依据. 关键词： 微空心阴极放电 PIC/MC模拟 2等离子体')" href="#">N₂等离子体     

离子轰击引起的表面形貌对Ag的溅射产额的影响

用捕获膜技术和卢瑟福背散射(RBS)谱仪测定Ag靶在27keV Ar⁺离子轰击下的溅射原子角分布,从而确定不同剂量下Ag的溅射产额,并对其靶点表面形貌进行扫描电子显微镜(SEM)观察。结果发现,所有的角分布都呈over-cosine形状,但其溅射产额却随着表面形貌不同而不同。根据溅射产额Y与轰击离子入射角φ变化关系,讨论不同轰击剂量下溅射产额的差别,肯定了表面形貌是影响溅射产额的一个重要因素,并由此提出“表观产额”的新概念。 关键词：     

BaF2晶体的取向和入射束的剂量对溅射的影响

２７ｋｅＶ Ａｒ^＋离子束沿法向分别入射在ＢａＦ₂单晶（１１１），（１００）和（１１０）的晶面上，用捕获器方法和Ｒｕｔｈｅｒｆｏｒｄ背散射分析法测定了Ｂａ原子的溅射角分布和溅射产额。结果发现不同取向的晶体表面，它们的溅射产额有明显差异。当用剂量为５×１０¹⁷ｉｏｎ／ｃｍ²的Ａｒ^＋离子分别轰击这三种晶面时，其溅射产额的顺序Ｙ_１００＞ｙ_１１１＞ｙ_１１０．对已被上述剂量辐照过的晶面再作相同剂量轰击时，测得的溅射产额明显增大。这些结果被认为是由于在离子辐照过程中表面晶格受损逐步增大所致。 关键词：     

Sputtering of Cu and Zn atoms from elemental and alloy targets

The energy distributions of Cu and Zn atoms sputtered from elements and Cu_xZn_1-x alloys (x=0.80, 0.24) with a 6 keV Ar⁺ beam have been measured. It was found that the collision-cascade theory properly described the flux of sputtered atoms. From the spectra the binding energies of Cu and Zn atoms in the elemental and alloy surfaces were determined. The collision-cascade theory and the experimentally adjusted values of the binding energies allowed for calculation of the total and partial sputtering yields, and the equilibrium surface composition of the ion bombarded alloys. This work was carried out as a part of Research Project M.R. I/5.     

Energy dependence of the ionization probability of sputtered Cu and Ni

Despite its great sensitivity, the usefulness of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) for many applications has been limited by an inadequate understanding of the probability of sputtering an atom in an ionized state. To determine this ionization probability for clean Cu and Ni surfaces, I have measured the energy distribution of sputtered neutrals and ions by quadrupole mass filtering and retarding potential analysis using potential modulation differentiation. Analysis of sputtered neutrals was accomplished by electron impact ionization. Because the neutrals outnumber the ions by at least two orders of magnitude, the ratio of sputtered ions to neutrals is an accurate measure of the ionization probability. For energies below 20 eV the dependence of the ionization probability on energy goes as P(E) α Eⁿ, where n = 0.65 for clean Cu. The absorption of oxygen on the Cu surface increases the total ion yield while causing a reduction in the value of the exponent n. Similar results are found for nickel, where n = 0.54 for the clean surface.     

Continuum light emission from sputtered species of graphite during ion beam irradiation

Light emission during sputtering of graphite targets with 1–10 keV Ne⁺, Kr⁺ and Xe⁺ beams has been investigated in the 180-600 nm wavelength range. Beside the characteristic lines of sputtered C₁ and C₁ ⁺, a continuum superimposed with a number of broad structures was observed in the 250-520 nm range, and having a maximum at 386 nm. Mass analysis of the sputtered flux confirmed the presence of negative carbon clusters C _m ^- , C₂ ^- being the dominant one. Ion beam parameters i.e. ion mass, energy, current density and ion dose were varied to identify the origin of the continuum emission. On the basis of the experimental results, it is suggested that the continuum is predominantly due to the overlapping of various band systems of sputtered C₂ with a small contribution from the heavier sputtered carbon clusters C_m (m>2). Received 24 September 1999 and Received in final form 11 February 2000