Molecule Formation in Oxide Sputtering

The understanding of the formation process of sputtered oxide molecules, in particular of MeO (Me: metal), is important for a number of reasons, such as an increased insight in surface processes induced by ion bombardment,oxidation studies at solid surfaces by mass spectrometric methods like SIMS or SNMS (Sputtered Neutral Mass Spectrometry [1]),the enhancement of secondary ion yields by oxygen exposure or bombardmentthe great fraction of MeO in the flux of oxide specific sputtered particles consisting mainly of neutrals also for oxides.