ROLE OF SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY ON ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION OF SPUTTERED Cd ATOMS

The angular distributions of sputtered Cd atoms were measured with 27 keV Ar+ ion bombardment at normal incidence for different target temperatures by using collector technique and RBS analysis. After the sputtering experiment the surface structures were observed using scanning electron microscope. For all samples the angular distributions are over-cosine. But the exponent n from fits of cosn θ to experimental angular distributions changes with target temperature. A simple model is proposed to explain the relation between shape of angular distribution and topography of sputtered surface.