Time-of-flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry of NaBF4: a comparison of atomic and polyatomic primary ions at constant impact energy

(CsI)nCs+ projectiles, n=0–3, were used to bombard a NaBF4 (sodium tetrafluoroborate) target at the limit of single ion impacts. The relative yields of ions sputtered from the target were measured and are compared as a function of the number of atoms in the primary ion. When normalized to the mass of the primary ion, sputtered ions that do not resemble the original sample composition, (NaF)nF−, increase in yield as the primary ion complexity increases. The yields of atomic species and polyatomic ions emitted presumably as intact units decrease as the projectile complexity increases.