Crater formation and sputtering by cluster impacts

A multiscale computational model coupling atomistic molecular dynamics simulations with continuum elasticity was used for studying craters formed on Si surfaces by Ar cluster impacts, with energies of 20–50 eV/atom. The results were confirmed by atomic force microscopy/transmission electron microscopy. They show that on a Si (1 0 0), craters are nearly triangular in cross-section, with the facets directed along the close-packed (1 1 1) planes, and exhibit fourfold symmetry. The craters on Si (1 1 1) surface are well rounded in cross-section and the top-view shows a complicated sixfold or triangular image. The sputtering yield from Si surfaces bombarded with B10 cluster ions, with energy of 1–15 keV, was calculated. 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 36.40; 61.43.B; 34.50.D; 82.65.P; 96.20.K; 61.72.T