Precise atomic scale studies of material sputtering by light-ion gases in the prethreshold energy region

The basis and prospects of a new original technique of determining the yields of the sputtering of conductive materials and subatomic films on their surface by light ion gases in the prethreshold energy region (from 10 to 500 eV) are discussed. This information is of great importance both for science and applications. The technique is based on special modes of field ion microscopy and includes the cleaning of specimens by field-induced desorption and evaporation, and subsequent operations with the atomically clean and atomically smooth surface in a wide temperature range from cryogenic temperatures. The technique enables one to identify single surface vacancies, that is, to directly count single sputtered atoms. The original results obtained with the developed technique are briefly reviewed. The energy thresholds of sputtering and the energy dependences of the sputtering yields in the prethreshold energy region are presented and analyzed for beryllium, tungsten, tungsten oxide, mixed tungsten-carbon layers, three carbon materials, and subatomic carbon films on the surface of certain metals bombarded by hydrogen, deuterium, and/or helium ions.