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Thin Solid Films
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The influence of ion sputtering on the elemental analysis of solid surfaces

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Abstract

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.

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Thin Solid Films

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