BOMBARDMENT-INDUCED LIGHT-EMISSION

An inescapable consequence of the bombardment of a solid with atomic particles in the energy range above a few tens of electron volts is the emission of particles from the solid via sputtering. A fraction of the sputtered flux emerges from the solid surface in an electronically excited state, and gives rise to the emission of light in a volume outside the surface. In this article, the experimental observations on this bombardment-induced light emission are reviewed together with the analytical applications of the technique and the present status of the mechanism leading to the excitation. © 1979.