Dependence of cluster ion emission from uranium oxide surfaces on the charge state of the incident slow highly charged ion

The cluster ion yields and cluster ion distribution for highly charged ion sputtering have been measured for a uranium oxide target for Xe 44+ , Au 63;66;69+ and Th 75+ incident ions. The cluster yields exhibit a power law dependence on the cluster size with exponents increasing from 4 to 2:4 with increasing primary ion charge from 44+ to 75+. The power law exponent is also correlated with the total sputter yield.