Comparison of the chemical erosion of Si, C and SiC under deuterium ion bombardment

Erosion yields of Si, C and SiC due to D ion impact were determined between 20 and 300 eV up to 1100 K. A temperature dependence of the erosion yield has been observed for Si and C. The temperature of the maximum increases with ion energy from about 350 K for 20 eV to 570 K above 100 eV for Si, which is always about 250 K lower than for graphite. The erosion yields of Si are in general 10 times smaller than those of graphite. Chemical erosion species were observed mass-spectroscopically: silane was found for Si, but not for SiC, where only hydrocarbons were observed