From groove to hillocks – Atomic-scale simulations of swift heavy ion grazing impacts on CaF2
Rymzhanov R.A. Ćosić M. Medvedev N. Volkov A.E.
15 April 2024Elsevier B.V.
Applied Surface Science
2024#652
Surface nanopatterning of CaF2 by swift heavy ions irradiation under oblique angles is studied with a combination of the event-by-event Monte Carlo particle transport model and molecular dynamics simulations. The model describes the electronic system excitation and energy transfer to the lattice followed by the atomic response. The approach allowed us to simulate the kinetics of the electronic ensemble excited by a grazing ion demonstrating that the presence of the surface does not reduce the energy of the lattice as expected. On the contrary, the track core temperature near the surface is slightly higher than in the bulk, because electrons reflected from the surface bring a part of the energy back to the core. The formation kinetics of entire grazing ion tracks is studied revealing the mechanisms of various surface nanostructures formation. Depending on the penetration depth, the ion produces a groove bordered by hillocks, a single chain of nanohillocks, a huge hillock at the end of the rift, and a single continuous structure afterward. The critical depth of the material expulsion from the surface equals approximately to the transient molten zone radius (∼4–4.5 nm). The simulated structures are in reasonable agreement with the available experimental data.
Electronic excitation , Grazing irradiation , Nanostructuring , Surface damage , Swift heavy ion
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Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Joliot-Curie 6, Dubna, Moscow Region, 141980, Russian Federation
The Institute of Nuclear Physics, Ibragimov St. 1, Almaty, 050032, Kazakhstan
Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, University of Belgrade, P. O. Box 522, Belgrade, 11001, Serbia
Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, Prague 8, 182 21, Czech Republic
Institute of Plasma Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Za Slovankou 3, Prague 8, 182 00, Czech Republic
P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskij pr., 53, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
The Institute of Nuclear Physics
Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences
Institute of Physics
Institute of Plasma Physics
P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
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