Auger electron spectroscopy has been used to analyze the composition of sputtered deposits as a function of ejection angle from Fe–Ni and Ni–Cu alloy targets. The sputtering was performed with 1-keV Hg+ or Ar+ multibeamlet ion beam (from a NASA thruster) impinging on the target at normal incidence. It was found that the composition varies substantially with ejection angle. In Fe–Ni the material which is ejected normal to the target surface shows up to 30% enrichment in Ni. Under very oblique ejection angles, one finds the corresponding Ni deficiency. In Ni–Cu it is again the Ni which becomes enriched (up to 30%) normal to the target surface. The effect has far-reaching implications in film deposition as well as in SIMS analysis.