Bombardment of a sample surface with ions resulting in the removal of atoms from their lattice sites, and thus an ongoing discharge process that causes continuous ablation of the sample.
Source:
PAC, 2021, 93, 647. 'Glossary of methods and terms used in analytical spectroscopy (IUPAC Recommendations 2019)' on page 711 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2019-0203)