Ion beam sputtering of multicomponent targets: Surface composition change and cluster emission

Preferential sputtering effect, which occurs during irradiation of a multicomponent target by medium energy ions, was under our investigation. A new term characterizing the preferential sputtering, called “surface sputtering yield” and defined as average number of components i sputtered from a top surface layer per one primary ion, was suggested. A direct proportionality between the dimer emission and surface concentration of the component, forming the dimer, was concluded; this let us estimate the preferential sputtering of any target from the composition of the flux of secondary particles, analyzed directly during the ion sputtering process, and define the composition of the ion sputtered surface.