Investigation of the binary model of scattering of 1 keV to 25 eV Ar+ ions from a Cu surface 1

The validity of the binary collision approximation for describing the scattering of low energy Ar ions from a polycrystalline Cu surface was investigated. The Ar ions were incident upon the target surface at an angle of 45° (with respect of the plane of the surface). The range of primary ion energy studied was 1000–25 eV. An ultra-high vacuum magnetic sector mass spectrometer was used to analyze those secondary ions emitted from the specimen surface at an angle of 90° with respect to the primary ion beam. The scattered ions were identified and their energies measured. No significant deviation from the prediction of the binary collision model was found throughout the range of energy studied.