Sputtering of nano-crystalline gold by high energy heavy ions

In order to investigate the grain size effects and the contribution of the electronic excitation on the radiation sensitivity, we have measured the sputtering yields of nano-crystalline Au and poly-crystalline Au samples by high energy heavy ions. No meaningful difference has been observed between the sputtering yields of both samples. It also appears that the sputtering yields of both Au samples agree with those of calculation based on the linear elastic collision cascade, indicating no appreciable contribution of the electronic excitation