Sputtering of SiN films by 540Â keV C602+ ions observed using high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy

Amorphous silicon nitride films deposited on Si(0 0 1) were irradiated with 540 keV C60 ions to fluences ranging from 2.5 × 1011 to 1 × 1014 ions/cm2. The composition depth profiles of the irradiated samples were measured using high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. Both silicon and nitrogen in the film decrease rapidly with fluence. From the observed result the sputtering yields are obtained as 3900 ± 500 N atoms/ion and 1500 ± 1000 Si atoms/ion. Such large sputtering yield cannot be explained by either the elastic sputtering or the electronic sputtering, indicating that the synergy effect between the elastic sputtering and the electronic sputtering plays an important role.