Sputtering of annealed aluminium and of sintered aluminium powder (SAP 895) under D+ and 4He+ bombardment: Study of microstructural effects

It is the main goal of these studies to determine how the significant differences between the surface microstructure of annealed aluminium and that of sintered aluminium powder (SAP 895) will influence the sputtering (e.g. sputter yields, chemical composition of sputter deposit) of these solids under D+ and 4He+ bombardment in the energy range of 3.5 to 9.5 keV. For the Al target, irradiation with 20 keV D+ and 4He+ ions were also performed. The equivalent Al thickness and the chemical composition of the sputter deposits were analyzed by three independent techniques: (1) Rutherford backscattering (RBS), (2) peak-to-peak amplitude measurement using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and (3) sputter depth profiling with AES. For D+ irradiations of annealed Al and SAP 895 no detectable difference in the yields for sputtered aluminium have been observed. For He+ irradiations, the yields for SAP 895 are 5 to 18% higher than those for annealed Al. (orig.)