Pulsed-ion-beam driven ablation of material near its sublimation energy

The process of target ablation induced by pulsed ion beams is investigated. The beam power density of 0.01–0.1 GW/cm² is around the sublimation energy of the target material. The emitted particles are collected with C collectors, which are later subjected to RBS and SEM-EPMA analyses. The thickness of the removed layer of the target is calculated numerically with use of the thermal conduction equation. It is shown that most of the ablated material is emitted in the form of large particles with diameters of the order of tens of urn, the rest 10% being evaporated from the surface of the flying mass to form a uniform film on the collector.