Sputter yields of Mo, Ti, W, Al, Ag under xenon ion incidence

The sputter yield is an important material parameter not only for various surface treatment techniques, but also for electric spacecraft propulsion. Many satellite or thruster components might be subject of erosion due to energetic and/or related secondary ions. In order to estimate the lifetime of these components the sputter yield under xenon ion incidence has to be known in dependence on ion energy and incidence angle, mainly in the low energy region (i.e. below 1500 eV). However, for many materials related to electric propulsion the supply of sputter yield data in literature is quite poor. Therefore, in this study the sputter yields of molybdenum, titanium, tungsten, silver and aluminium was investigated under xenon ion incidence.