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Related Experiment Videos

Inert gas clusters ejected from bursting bubbles during sputtering.

Klaus Franzreb1, Peter Williams

  • 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA.

Physical Review Letters
|August 9, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Argon and Xenon cluster ions form from gas bubbles rupturing under ion bombardment. These clusters then become ionized through charge exchange with primary ions above the surface.

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Surface Science
  • Plasma Physics

Background:

  • Ion bombardment of materials can lead to complex surface and gas-phase phenomena.
  • Understanding the mechanisms of cluster ion formation is crucial for various applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the formation mechanism of Ar(n)+ cluster ions (n<=6) produced by Ar+ ion bombardment.
  • To investigate the role of subsurface gas bubbles and gas-phase ionization processes.
  • To examine the formation of Xe+2 clusters under similar conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Prolonged Ar+ ion surface bombardment of various sample materials at room temperature.
  • Analysis of ejected neutral clusters and subsequent gas-phase ionization.
  • Mass spectrometry to detect and quantify cluster ions.

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Main Results:

  • Ar(n)+ cluster ions originate from the ejection of neutral argon clusters from ruptured subsurface gas bubbles.
  • Ionization occurs via resonant charge exchange with primary Ar+ ions in the gas phase, up to 175 microm above the surface.
  • Xe+2 clusters are formed similarly from Xe+-bombarded solids, with ion intensities showing a second-order dependence on primary ion current density.

Conclusions:

  • The study reveals a two-stage mechanism for cluster ion formation: neutral cluster ejection followed by gas-phase ionization.
  • This mechanism is applicable to both Argon and Xenon cluster ions.
  • The second-order dependence of ion intensity on primary current density provides insights into the kinetics of the ionization process.