Angular distribution of sputtered particles induced by ion bombardment

Using a 15 keV argon ion beam to impact a polycrystalline aluminum target, the intensities of the sputtered Al particles and the backscattered projectiles in different angle of incidence were measured. The data showed that the angular distributions of Ar and Al particles were quite different. Due to the intensity of sputtered target atoms are strongly correlated to the sputtering yields of the target atoms. The SRIM-simulation program was employed to obtain the sputtering yields of Al atoms. The angular distributions of sputtered Al particles and sputtering yields were compared each other and revealed that both of them were in a fairly good agreement. From the results of simulated sputtering yields and backscattered Ar particles, we conclude that the structure of the target and a linear collision cascade processes determine the angular distribution of the sputtered target atoms in this measurement.