Electronic and collisional sputtering of rare-gas solids

Experimental results for the kinetic energy spectra of atoms ejected from rare gas solids as a result of electronic excitation are reviewed and analyzed in terms of the ejection processes and energy states involved. These analyses are aided by classical dynamics simulations of the motion of atoms and dimers in the surface region of the solid. The results indicate that an important process is the ejection of an excited dimer with small kinetic energy, followed by its radiative decay and the subsequent repulsion of the two atoms. For incident He+ on Xe we explore the contribution to sputtering from both the electronic and nuclear energies deposited in the solid. (author)