Study of atomic excitations in sputtering with the use of N, O, F, Ne, Na, Cl and Ar projectiles

Abstract Solid magnesium has been bombarded with 80 keV ions of N, O, F, Ne, Na, Cl, and Ar, and excitation of sputtered magnesium atoms and ions has been studied. Relative level excitation probabilities depend strongly on the projectile, the dependences for Mg I levels being different from those for Mg II levels. With all projectiles, the resonance level in Mg II was more strongly excited than the resonance level in Mg I. Very little radiation was observed from the projectiles except for sodium.