The sputter ripple formation in polycrystalline metal thin films of Al, Co, Cu. and Ag has been studied by 16.7 keV Ar~+ and O_2~+ ion bombardment as a function of angle of ion incidence. The experimental results show the existence of a critical angle of ion incidence (θ_c) beyond which the ripples of wave vectors perpendicular to the projected ion beam direction appear. Monte Carlo simulation (srim) is carried out to calculate the depth, longitudinal and lateral straggling widths of energy deposition as these values are crucial in determining the critical angle θ_c. It is found that the radial energy distribution of the damage cascade has the maximum slightly away from the ion path in contradiction to the Gaussian distribution and the distribution is better characterized by an exponential function. The lower values of lateral straggling widths as those extracted from the measured critical angles using the Bradley and Harper theory indicate a highly anisotropic deposited-energy distribution.
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