Enhanced sputter yields on ion irradiated Au nano particles: energy and size dependence

TL;DR

This study investigates how the sputter yield of gold nanoparticles varies with size and ion energy, revealing higher experimental yields than simulations due to thermal effects.

Contribution

It provides experimental data on sputter yields of Au nanoparticles under ion irradiation and compares these with Monte Carlo simulations, highlighting thermal effects.

Findings

Experimental sputter yields are higher than simulations.

Thermal effects significantly influence sputter yields.

Size and energy dependence of sputtering are characterized.

Abstract

Hexagonally arranged Au nano particles (NPs) exhibiting a broad size distribution ranging from 30 nm to 80 nm with a Gaussian shape were deposited on Si substrates and irradiated with Ar+ and Ga+ ions with various energies from 20 to 350 keV and 1 to 30 keV, respectively. The size and energy dependence of the sputter yield were measured using high resolution scanning electron microscopy image analysis. These results were compared to simulation results obtained by iradina, a Monte Carlo (MC) code, which takes the specifics of the nano geometry into account. The experimental obtained sputter yields are significantly higher compared to the calculated simulation results for both bulk and the nano geometry. The difference can be clearly attributed to thermally driven effects, which significantly influence the measured sputter yields.