Charge-state related effects in sputtering of LiF by swift heavy ions

Sputtering experiments with swift heavy ions in the electronic energy loss regime were performed by using the catcher technique in combination with elastic recoil detection analysis. The angular distribution of particles sputtered from the surface of LiF single crystals is composed of a jet-like peak superimposed on a broad isotropic distribution. By using incident ions of fixed energy but different charges states, the influence of the electronic energy loss on both components is probed. We find indications that isotropic sputtering originates from near-surface layers, whereas the jet component may be affected by contributions from depth up to about 150 nm.