We report on an investigation carried out to determine effects of the probing beam on the structure of typical metallic and insulating thin films during Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis showed no significant peak shifts in both films, but rather formation of unidentified peaks in the insulating film. AFM results indicated a substantial decrease in the average surface roughness of the insulating film and only a nominal increase in that of the metallic film.Results of electronic sputtering yield measurements carried out by ERDA are explained in terms of both the Coulomb explosion and the inelastic thermal spike models.