Sputtering characteristics of fullerene C-60 films under bombardment with 0.1-1-keV argon ions and atoms

The sputtering of fullerene C-60 films under bombardment with Ar+ ions was studied. In thin films, blistering effects related to diffusion of the impl anted argon ions along the layer and substrate interface have been found to occur. A threshold behavior was observed for sputtering at ion energies ar ound 0.2 keV, which is much higher than in graphites. It has been shown tha t dependence of the work function on ion energy can be described in the fra mework of Zigmund-Falcone's approximation, which takes into account anisotr opic effects in cascade collisions, and with Yudin's approximation for the sputtering of elemental materials. The obtained surface binding energy for fullerenes is U-s congruent to 6.7 eV, which is less than the value for gra phites, U-s graph = 7.7 eV. (C) 2000 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".