Plasmon excitation in Al by keV Ne and Ar ions

Abstract

We present experimental studies of plasmon excitation by keV Ne and Ar single charged ions on Al surfaces. Plasmons are identified through the characteristic energy spectrum of electrons from plasmon decay. At 1 keV incident energy, surface plasmons are excited by Ne+ but not by Ar+. For higher energies we observe bulk plasmon excitation resulting, most likely, from excitation by fast electrons, such as Al-2p Auger electrons, traveling inside the solid.