INVESTIGATIONS ON THE MCS(2)(-ION MASS-SPECTROMETRY() FORMATION IN SECONDARY)

The formation of MCs(2)(+) secondary ions under Cs+ bombardment of sev eral elemental surfaces M was studied. In conjunction with their respe ctive mass signals the energy distributions of the secondary MCs(+), C s+, Cs-2(+) ions and the neutral M(0) atoms corroborate an MCs(2)(+) f ormation mechanism via recombination of an already built MCs(0) molecu le with a Cs+ ion. Evaluation of the mass signals reveals that the spa tial and temporal correlation between two partners forming the MCs(2)( +) molecule is strongly enhanced in comparison with the respective cor relation of M(0) and Cs+, which is generally agreed to form the MCs(+) molecule. The surprisingly broad energy distributions of Cs-2(+) are determined by the broad distribution of the neutral M(0) atoms which a re essentially implicated in the Cs-2(+) formation process.