Precise sputtering of silicon dioxide by argon cluster ion beams

In this work, the sputtering yields of SiO₂ by the argon cluster ion beam with incident angles 0° and 45° have been studied experimentally. The kinetic energy of the primary cluster ions was in the range of E = 5–23.5 keV, and the mean cluster size was N_mean = 100–1000 atom/cluster. It is found that, when the energy per cluster atom quantity E/N is comparable to the binding energy of the solid (of the order of several eV), the yields of atoms sputtered per primary atom Y/N, at the incident angle 45°, is 4 times greater than at normal incidence. Conversely, when energy E/N is significantly above the binding energy of the solid (~ 100 eV), the sputtering yields for the incident angles 0° and 45° have the same values.