Sputter erosion measurements of titanium and molybdenum by cavity ring-down spectroscopy

We report cavity ring-down spectroscopy measurements of the gas-phase number density of titanium and molybdenum sputtered by argon ions. A neodymium: yttrium–aluminum–garnet pumped optical parametric oscillator laser system is used to probe optical absorption features of titanium and molybdenum in the 375–400 nm region. For an 18 mA ion beam current, and 750 eV ions, we find that the spatially averaged number density of sputtered atoms is 6.4±0.6×108 and 5.1±0.5×108 cm−3, for titanium and molybdenum, respectively. The measured number densities exhibit the expected linear behavior versus beam current, and are in reasonable agreement with values found from a simple sputtering model. Our current configuration yields number density detection limits of ∼9×106 and ∼7×105 cm−3, for titanium and molybdenum, respectively. The technique may ultimately provide a means to measure sputter erosion rates, which are of particular importance for the electric propulsion field.