The density effects in sputtering of amorphous materials

The effects of the target atomic density on sputtering of amorphous targets under 1 keV Ar ion bombardment have been investigated using binary-collision simulation. Attention was given to the sputtering yield, and the angular and energy distributions of sputtered atoms. A large set of targets, from 3Li to 92U was considered and three interatomic potentials were applied. It has been shown that both the sputtering yield and the angular and energy distributions of sputtered atoms are undoubtedly dependent on the target atomic density. Results are compared with the data from the literature