Sputtering and Ion-Source Technology

Sputtering is dependent on a number of projectile and target parameters. It is shown that the dependence of the sputtering yield on projectile energy, angle of incidence and atomic number is well understood. Also, the dependence on the bulk properties of the target is described reasonably well by theory, while the dependence on the actual surface topography of the target is difficult to quantify. Positive-ion sources mainly depend on the number of atoms sputtered per incoming ion (sputtering yield), while also energy- and angular-distributions of the sputtered material are of primary importance for negative-ion sources. These distributions are reasonably well known and allow a direct calculation of the emittance of some negative-ion sources.