The interaction of ions with matter plays an important role in the treatment of material surfaces. In this paper we study the effect of argon ion bombardment on the InSb surface in comparison with the InP one. The Ar+ ions, accelerated at low energy (300 eV) lead to compositional and structural changes in InP and InSb compounds. The InP surface is more sensitive to Ar+ ions than that of InSb. These results are directly inferred from the qualitative Auger electron spectra (AES) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) analysis. However, these techniques alone do not allow us to determine with accuracy the disturbed depth in Ar+ ions of InP and InSb compounds. For this reason, we combine AES and EELS with the simulation method TRIM (transport and range of ions in matter) to show the mechanism of interaction between the ions and the InP or InSb and hence determine the disturbed depth as a function of Ar+ energy. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.