Method for studying sputtered particles by emission spectroscopy

An f/6.8 scanning spectrometer with a photomultiplier output was used to monitor the presence of particles sputtered from a target surface by ion bombardment. The ion source was a conventional duoplasmatron providing a high density, high energy ion beam. The density of sputtered particles available for analysis was of the order of 108 cm-3. A fraction of these particles was electronically excited by a high density, low energy electron beam, and the emission spectra characteristic of the target material were recorded with either an electrometer or a phase sensitive detector. Some intense atomic copper lines were easily observed when a Cu target was bombarded with 5000 eV Ar+ ions. The intensities of these lines have been analyzed to obtain the sputtering yield and some relative excitation functions for copper. A comparison between the conventional mass spectrometric technique and the present scheme is presented. © 1966 The American Institute of Physics.