probability of atoms sputtered under fast ion bombardment has been studied. Atomic and
molecular primary ions with the same velocity were used to produce different degrees of the
electronic excitations. Information on the ionisation probability was obtained from the kinetic
energy distributions of Nb+ and Ta+ ions sputtered from the respective clean Nb and Ta
targets by Aum− projectiles (1⩽ m⩽ 3) with the energy of E0= 6 keV per atom. It was found …