Sputtering of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite with 30 keV Argon ions

The influence of the incidence angle of 30 keV Ar⁺ ions, ion fluence and target temperature on the sputtering yield and surface microgeometry of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (UPV-1T) samples was experimentally studied. It was found that at fluences more than 5 × 10¹⁹ ion cm^?2 the sputtering yield at room temperature in the range of the ion incidence angle from 0° to 80° is twice as small as the corresponding experimental data for both polycrystalline graphite and glassy carbon. The analysis of ion-induced relief permits us to suppose the topographical suppression mechanism of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite sputtering.