The dependence of sputtering efficiency on ion energy and angle of incidence

Abstract

Earlier measurements of sputtering efficiency of polycrystalline targets (fraction of impinging ion energy leaving the target through sputtering and backscattering) have been extended to higher energies. Lead and copper targets were bombarded with several different projectiles with energies between 80 and 1200 keV. The sputtering efficiency decreases with increasing energy. This decrease is ascribed to the combined influence of changes in the scattering cross section with energy, and to electronic stopping. The results may be described as a function of the mass ratio M ₂/M ₁ and the reduced energy ∊ only. The sputtering efficiency was measured as a function of angle of incidence of the bombarding ions. To ensure complete collection of sputtered and backscattered particles, it was possible to cover only the region of incidence angle from 0° to 45°. Targets of copper, silver, and lead were investigated with 17 different ion-target combinations. The sputtering efficiency increased with angle of incidence. This increase is described well by a simple interpolation formula by Sigmund.