Secondary ion emission from insulators induced by fast heavy ion impact

Abstract
A short survey is presented on the experimental investigation of secondary ion emission mainly performed at the heavy ion accelerator of the GSI in Darmstadt. Samples of insulating material, particularly phenylalanine, were irradiated with various MeV ions ranging from I4N to ?W. The data are discussed in relevance to the work of other groups. A general picture of the desorption process is deduced from the behaviour of molecule specific ions and low mass fragment ions.