ENERGY-SPECTRA OF IONS SPUTTERED FROM ELEMENTS BY O-2+ - COMPREHENSIVE STUDY

The results of a comprehensive study of the energy distributions of ions sputtered from 31 pure elements and two compounds by a 5.5 keV O+2 beam are presented. The spectra were determined under three different ambient conditions: residual vacuum or low argon pressure backfill, oxygen backfill, and nitrogen backfill. The energy spectra of polyatomic ions are narrower and peaked at lower energies than the atomic ion spectra and decrease in width and average energy with greater ion complexity. The statistical model of polyatomic ion formation does not correctly describe the shape of the energy distributions. The atomic ion energy spectra reveal that more than one ionization mechanism is responsible for the formation of ions from the various elements and that the dominant mechanism is frequently different in the presence of a reactive gas than in a vacuum. Periodic trends of the parameters describing the energy distributions are dependent on the electronic structure of the ions. The average energies of the distributions correlate with the sublimation energies of the pure elements, but the most probable energies do not. Apparent surface binding energies calculated from the energy distributions are presented. © 1979.