Computer simulation of transmission sputtering of thin films and experimental measurements of recoil implantation of gold into silicon

Abstract

Transmission sputtering of thin (up to 300 Å) gold films bombarded by 10 to 20 keV Ar ions is simulated by using the MARLOWE computer code. The energy spectra, angle of ejection and depth of origin distributions of ejected particles are presented. The results indicate that even for a thin film the cascading of the recoils is sufficient to produce an E −2 energy spectrum and a cosine angular distribution. The evaluated transmission-sputtering yields for various film thicknesses are compared with the amount of gold retained in a silicon substrate in dynamic recoil mixing experiments.