On features of metal and binary compound sputtering by low-energy ions

Molecular dynamic simulation has been used to study how the characteristics of metal and binary compound sputtering change under the bombardment by different low-energy ions. The influence of the target parameters on the anomalous mass dependence of sputtering yield has been investigated, both for targets with similar and very different values of density, the lattice constant and the surface binding energy. Together with the ratio of the target atoms’ mass to the mass of the ions, the density of the target and the binding energy turn out to be the important parameters that determine the unusual shape of the mass dependence of sputtering by low-energy ions.