The influence of ion sputtering on the elemental analysis of solid surfaces

Ion bombardment sputtering is widely used in combination with various analytical approaches to determine the elemental composition of thin solid layers as a function of depth. It is generally recognized that the sputter-etching process can seriously influence the nature of experimentally determined composition depth profiles. The characteristics of the sputter-etching process which must be considered in depth profile work include ion-bombardment-induced alteration of the surface composition, ion-bombardment-induced motion of atoms in the near-surface region and ion-bombardment-induced roughening of the sample surface. A discussion of these processes is presented and much of the recent work in this field is summarized. © 1979.