Resonant electron transfer during ion-beam sputtering of metals studied by double-resonant laser ionization

This paper deals with the investigation of electronic processes by resonance ionization spectroscopy during keV ion-beam sputtering of metals. We report the measurement of the population partition over the ground and metastable states of sputtered Sr atoms and its interpretation involving sputtering data for Co and Ni. The observations indicate that the population of a particular state strongly depends on the correspondence of the electronic configuration of the atomic state with the bulk electronic configuration. The combined interpretation of the sputtering results provides strong evidence that the electronic states are predominantly populated by resonant electron transfer from the metal to the sputtered particle