Abstract :
Emphasizing impact energies in the low- and sub-keV range, current advances in elucidating the interaction of ions with solid surfaces are highlighted by means of selected examples. Specifically, the following topics are addressed: (i) The influence of mass differences on the magnitude of preferential sputtering effects is investigated by monitoring, via mass spectrometric techniques, the angle- and energy-differential fluxes of the isotopes of an element. (ii) The modification and gradual amorphization of crystalline semiconductors under ion bombardment is studied for various impact conditions (energy, fluence and current density) by electron spectroscopy and electron diffraction. (iii) The formation of adatoms as observed in recent experiments and computer simulations is discussed and the respective yields are related to those of ejected species.
