Thermally grown SiO2 layers on Si were bombarded with He+, Ar+, and Xe+ ions at energies between 0.5 and 2 keV and subsequently studied by XPS. Chemical shifts of the Si 2p and O 1s peaks were not observed as a result of sputtering. Apparently, the oxide is not reduced by ion bombardment. However, the widths of the Si 2p and O 1s peaks increase with ion dose and ion energy. A steady state peak width was obtained at each energy for ion doses above 2×1017 cm−2. Steady state peak width dependence on ion species and energy is explained by a model based on the mean-projected ion range. Peak broadening can be explained by an increase in disorder that results from changes in the Si–O bond angle distribution within the ion range.
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Hofmann et al. (1983) studied this question.