Atomic excitations during ion beam sputtering of YBa2Cu3O7 targets

YBa2Cu3O7 targets were bombarded with 1–10 keV Ar+ beam, and excitation of the sputtered particles was studied with the help of optical spectroscopy in 300–700 nm wavelength range. Intense emission from several YI, BaI and CuI transitions was observed, but essentially no emission from sputtered excited atomic and molecular oxygen. Photon yields of various emission lines were measured as a function of the ion energy and results were compared with a model based on the collision cascade sputtering mechanism and an excitation process that depend on velocity of the ejected particle. Moreover, we observed decrease of the photon emission with ion fluence that may be due to depletion of the oxygen in surface region.