The angular distributions of sputtered indium atoms at different temperature

• Published in: Journal of materials science letters 1993-05, Vol.12 (10), p.747-748
• Main Authors: Jiping, Zhang, Zhenxia, Wang, Zhenlan, Tao, Jisheng, Pan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Electron and ion emission by liquids and solids; impact phenomena; Exact sciences and technology; Impact phenomena (including electron spectra and sputtering); Metals. Metallurgy; Other electron-impact emission phenomena; Physics
• ISSN: 0261-8028; 1573-4811
• DOI: 10.1007/BF00626708

The metal indium was selected to study the effect of temperature and surface topography on the angular distribution of sputtered atoms. The samples were bombarded with 27 keV Ar exp + ions at normal incidence, and the temperature was kept at either 25 or 70 deg C. An examination of the sputtered surface for each sample was carried out on a scanning electron microscope. The sputtered atoms were collected by semi-circular high-purity aluminum films which surrounded the targets, and a 2 MeV He exp + ion beam coming from a Van de Graaff accelerator was used to measure the sputtered atoms with a Rutherford back-scattered spectrometer (RBS). It is satisfactory to explain the effect of surface topography on the angular distribution of sputtered atoms by Y( Theta ) = a cos Theta + b cos exp n Theta (angular distribution of sputtered In atoms = cosine distribution predicted by the random collision cascade theory + other factors, e.g. the surface topography).