Theoretical studies on an empirical formula for sputtering yield at normal incidence

Abstract

Abstract Theoretical investigations on the Matsunami empirical formula for the sputtering yield are presented, and a new empirical formula is proposed. The first Matsunami empirical formula includes implicitly the effect of the inelastic stopping in one of the adjustable parameters, while in the new empirical formula the inelastic part and the elastic part are explicitly separated. It is found that the new empirical formula can predict well the energy-dependence of the sputtering yield over a wide range of the ion-target combinations. Another interesting conclusion is that one of the adjustable parameters of the new formula, which corresponds to Sigmund α shows the Z2-oscillation.