Formation of recoil atoms and layer-by-layer sputtering of the single crystal surface under ion bombardment at grazing angles

Formation of recoil atoms on a single crystal surface under low energy ion bombardment at grazing angles has been investigated by a computer simulation method. The yields of the primary knocked out recoil atoms and their energies, as well as the relationship of the number of formed recoil atoms with the impact points of ions and peculiarities of ion trajectories were determined. The mechanism of layer-by-layer sputtering of a surface at bombardment under grazing angles has been proposed. The possibility of application of such sputtering for single crystal layer-by-layer analysis with high sensitivity was shown.