Formation of large clusters during sputtering of silver

We have studied the formation of polyatomic clusters during sputtering of metal surfaces by keV ion bombardment. Both positively charged (secondary cluster ions) and neutral clusters have been detected in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer under otherwise identical experimental conditions, the sputtered neutrals being post-ionized by single photon absorption using a pulsed 157 nm VUV laser beam. Due to the high achievable laser intensity, the photoionization of all clusters could be saturated, thus enabling a quantitative determination of the respective partial sputtering yields. We find that the relative yield distributions of sputtered clusters are strongly correlated with the total sputtering yield in a way that higher yields lead to higher abundances of large clusters. By using heavy projectile ions (Xe+) in connection with bombarding energies up to 15 keV, we have been able to detect sputtered neutral silver clusters containing up to about 60 atoms. For cluster sizes above 40 atoms, doubly charged species are shown to be produced in the photoionization process with non-negligible efficiency. From a direct comparison of secondary neutral and ion yields, the ionization probability of sputtered clusters is determined as a function of the cluster size. It is demonstrated that even the largest silver clusters are still predominantly sputtered as neutrals. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.