Sputtering and Secondary Ion Emission Properties of Alkali Metal Films and Adsorbed Monolayers

摘要

The secondary ion emission of alkali metal adsorbed monlayer and multilayer films has been studied. Profiling with sub-monolayer resolution has been performed by Auger, x-ray photoemission and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Characteristic differences in the sputtering yields, and ion fraction have been observed which are associated with both the surface bonding properties and the mechanism leading to the formation of secondary ions. By sputtering with a negative bias applied to the sample, positive secondary ions are returned to the surface, resulting in a reduced sputter-induced erosion rate. Comparison with the results obtained with K and Li overlayers sputtered without sample bias provides an experimental value of both the total and secondary ion sputtering yields. The first and second monolayers can be readily identified and the first monolayer exhibits a lower sputtering yield and higher secondary ion fraction. This result is related to adsorption theory and measured values are compared with those obtained by thermal desorption measurements. (ERA citation 06:014918)