Abstract
We report preliminary results on sputtering of a lunar regolith simulant at room temperature by singly
and multiply charged solar wind ions using quadrupole and time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry
approaches. Sputtering of the lunar regolith by solar-wind heavy ions may be an important particle
source that contributes to the composition of the lunar exosphere, and is a possible mechanism for lunar
surface ageing and compositional modification. The measurements were performed in order to assess the
relative sputtering efficiency of protons, which are the dominant constituent of the solar wind, and less
abundant heavier multicharged solar wind constituents, which have higher physical sputtering yields
than same-velocity protons, and whose sputtering yields may be further enhanced due to potential sputtering.
Two different target preparation approaches using JSC-1A AGGL lunar regolith simulant are
described and compared using SEM and XPS surface analysis.
