Reply to "Comment on 'A unified explanation for secondary ion yields' and 'Mechanism of the SIMS matrix effect"'

Abstract

Comments made in the preceding paper are critically discussed. It is argued that conclusions reached in our earlier papers were conservative and justified within our experimental accuracy. Negative-ion yields under cesium bombardment scale with surface cesium concentration and electron affinity in a manner analogous to the scaling of positive-ion yields with surface oxygen concentration and ionization potential. Fluorine is shown to be an exception, due probably to saturation effects.