The sputtering yield of gold bombarded by low energy (20–100 ev) helium, neon, and argon ions has been measured by the increase in electrical resistance of a thin gold film. It has been shown that for neon and argon the yield decreases rapidly with decreasing ion energy from 100 to 40 ev; below 40 ev the decrease is less rapid and no definite threshold has been found. With 40‐ev neon ions the yield is proportional to the ion current density, but with argon ions of this energy the yield is independent of the current: For currents greater than 100 &mgr;a/cm2neon is more efficient than argon in sputtering gold. To explain the variation of yield with ion current for low energy neon ions it is suggested that the sputtering may take place by a two‐stage process: the first stage being the creation of defects in the gold by the ions, and the second stage, ejection of gold atoms from the neighborhood of these defects.