News on sputter theory: Molecular targets, nanoparticle desorption, rough surfaces

Sputtering theory has existed as a mature and well-understood field of physics since the theory of collision-cascade sputtering has been developed in the late 1960s. In this presentation we outline several directions, in which the basic understanding of sputter phenomena has been challenged and new insight has been obtained recently. Sputtering of molecular solids: after ion impact on a molecular solid, not all of the impact energy is available for inducing sputtering. Part of the energy is converted into internal (rotational and vibrational) excitation of the target molecules, and part is used for molecule dissociation. Furthermore, exothermic or endothermic chemical reactions may further change the energy balance in the irradiated target. Nanoparticle desorption: usually, the flux of sputtered particles is dominated by monatomics; in the case of a pronounced spike contribution to sputtering, the contribution of clusters in the sputtered flux may become considerable. Here, we discuss the situation that nanoparticles were present on the surface, and outline mechanisms of how these may be desorbed (more or less intact) by ion or cluster impact. Rough surfaces: real surfaces are rough and contain surface defects (adatoms, surface steps, etc.). For grazing ion incidence, these influence the energy input into the surface dramatically. For such incidence angles sputtering vanishes for a flat terrace; however, ion impact close to a defect may lead to sputter yields comparable to those at normal incidence. In such cases sputtering also exhibits a pronounced azimuth and temperature dependence.