Anion formation by neutral resonant ionization

A collision-radiation model of the cesium plasma that forms within a pitted or recessed sample in a Middleton-type sputter ion source showed that excited states of Cs formed. These excited states of neutral Cs undergo resonant electron transfer with neutral sputtered atoms of AMS samples to produce the accelerated anions. Numerous reported effects from over 30 years are readily explained by this mechanism, including several that puzzled Middleton.