The unimolecular decay of Aln± and Sin± sputtered clusters

The decay processes of Aln± (n=2–24) and Sin± (n=2–12) clusters sputtered from Al, Si targets under Xe+ and Cs+ ion bombardment have been studied. We have determined the most probable fragmentation channels of positively and negatively charged clusters in the acceleration zone of tool in time region of 10−9 to 10−7 s from the emission moment and in the field-free zones of the apparatus in the time interval of 5×10−7 to 5×10−5 s. The intensive fragmentation of Aln+ and Sin+ occurs with Al+ and Si+ formation. It permits to make a conclusion, that one part of Al+ and Si+ ions on the detector corresponds to “true” secondary ions, while another part is due to cluster decays and corresponds to the fragments.