The sputtering of gallium arsenide at elevated temperatures

Abstract

The energy distribution of atoms and molecules sputtered from a polycrystalline GaAs sample with a 6 keV Ar ion beam have been measured. The temperature of the target ranged from 30°C to 350°C. Total sputtering yield of the investigated sample has also been measured. The results clearly show that there is a large contribution of molecular component in the sputtered flux and that the molecular component increases above 250°C in comparison to the atomic components thus yielding an increase in the total sputtering yield, as observed previously by Brozdowska et al. The enhanced molecular component at temperatures above 250°C can be explained by the appearance of a spike effect. The results obtained at low temperature can be explained in terms of the collision cascade mode. There is no contribution of beam-induced thermal vaporization to the sputtering of GaAs.