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An unexpected pronounced enhancement is observed in sputtering yields per atom for N₂^+ compared to N^+ from a polycrystalline gold target. This effect is seen when the kinetic energy per projectile atom is below 500 eV and increases as projectile energy decreases to near-threshold energies. Enhancements for O₂^+ over O^+ begin at even lower kinetic energies below 100 eV per atom. This new molecular interaction effect may be explained qualitatively by invoking a simple energy transfer model which involves the vibrational frequency of the molecule and the collisional interaction time.
Yao et al. (1998) studied this question.