The sputtering yield of vacuumhyphen;deposited gold targets has been measured with 18 different 45hyphen;keV ions throughout the periodic system. The results are compared with previously reported results obtained with copper, silicon, and silver targets and with the predictions of the Sigmund theory. The variation in the yield with projectile atomic number is found to be consistent with theory although rather large deviations are found for both heavy and light projectiles. The large experimental yields for heavy projectiles as well as the maximum in the energy dependence of the yield, which is more pronounced than predicted by theory, are explained by nonlinear effects in very dense collision cascades. This interpretation is supported by data obtained from irradiation with atomic and molecular ions of the same elements. The deviations for light projectiles are considered mainly to be due to the lack of a surface correction term in the theory.
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