Sputtering and luminescence from MeV-ion-excited solid argon films

Thesis/Dissertation · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5326927

Reimann, C T

An important manifestation of ion-induced electronic excitation of insulating solids is the phenomenon of sputtering, in which target atoms or molecules are ejected from the excited region of the target. The mechanisms by which this occurs are not well understood, and consequently it is valuable to study the phenomenon of sputtering in as simple a system as possible. In this work, electronically induced erosion of solid argon films is studied. In addition to causing sputtering, electronic excitation of solid argon films causes copious V-UV luminescence. In this work, the sputtering and luminescence film thickness dependences are shown to be correlated by an exciton diffusions model in which excitons are quenched at the metal substrate on which the films are grown. Deliberately added impurities have effects that are consistent with this model. Bulk impurities alter the exciton diffusion length, and surface impurities cause the outer surface to be a good exciton quenching site. The repulsive dissociation of dimers during exciton decay is shown to account for the sputtering-yield magnitude if the outer interface is dominantly exciton reflecting.

• Research Organization: Virginia Univ., Charlottesville (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5326927
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

656003* -- Condensed Matter Physics-- Interactions between Beams & Condensed Matter-- (1987-)
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ARGON
BEAMS
DECAY
ELEMENTS
ENERGY RANGE
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EXCITATION
EXCITONS
FILMS
FLUIDS
GASES
ION BEAMS
LUMINESCENCE
MEV RANGE
NONMETALS
QUASI PARTICLES
RARE GASES
SOLIDS
SPUTTERING