Electronic excitation induced sputtering of insulating and semiconducting oxides by high energy heavy ions

We have measured the electronic sputtering yields of eight samples of insulating and semiconductor oxides by high energy heavy ions for systematic investigation of the electronic excitation effect on atomic displacement, applying a carbon-film collector method. We have found that the sputtering yields, which include the oxygen contribution, increase super-linearly with the electronic stopping power S, and that they are larger by 30-2000 than the calculated yields based on the elastic collision cascade. In the plot of the sputtering yields at a given electronic stopping power versus the band gap E-g, the upper limits of the yields are suggested and the maximum yields follow E-g(4) dependence. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.