Continuum radiation emitted from transition metals under ion bombardment

Optical emission of transition metals has been studied during 5 keV Kr + ions bombardment within and without oxygen atmosphere in the colliding chamber. The observed spectra consist of a series of discrete lines superimposed on a broad continuum. Generally, the emission intensity was influenced by the presence of oxygen giving rise to transient effects as well as to an increase in the line intensity. The behaviours of spectral lines were successfully explained in term of electron-transfer process between the excited sputtered atom and the solid surface. In this work, we have focused our study on the continuous radiation emitted during ion bombardment. The experimental results suggest that the continuum emission depends on the nature of metal and very probably related to its electronic structure. The collective deactivation of 3d-shell electrons appears to play a role in the emission of this radiation. The observed enhancement in the presence of oxygen is probably due to a significant contribution of the oxide molecules.