This study examines the dependence of the sputter rate and the transient width (z tr ) as a function of Cs + primary ion energy (impact energy .E p / = 320 eV, 500 eV and 1 keV) and incident angles between 0 and 70°. The instrument used was the ATOMIKA 4500 SIMS depth profiler and the sample was Si with ten delta layers of Si 0.7 Ge 0.3 . We observed the narrowest transient widths of between 1.4 and 2.0 nm apparent depth. This was achieved at incident angles (q) of 30-50°. An extended transient effect was observed when profiled at q > 50°. Below this incident angle, the transient width is less than twice the penetration depth (z tr < 2R norm ). At minimum z tr , z tr ≈ R norm . The detection sensitivity is best achieved at q ≈ 30°for all energies investigated. The sputter rate is lowest at normal incidence, rising gradually to a maximum at q ≈ 50-60°. This is similar to that observed with ultralow-energy O 2 + primary ion beams. 1 At ultralow energies, reducing E p does not have a significant effect in reducing z tr . We conclude that for E p < 1 keV, the optimum condition to achieve minimum z tr while maintaining good sensitivity and high sputter rate is at q ≈ 30°.