Molecular dynamics simulation of defect formation in an aluminum crystal under low-energy ion bombardment

Atomic collision cascades initiated by Ar and Xe ions (with energies of 25, 40, and 50 eV) normally incident on the Al(100) crystal surface at a crystal temperature of 300 K have been simulated by the molecular dynamics technique. The formation of vacancies and radiation-adsorbed and interstitial atoms in a cascade is discussed. It is demonstrated that the numbers of surface and bulk vacancies formed in cascades under bombardment of the Al(100) surface by Xe ions reach two maxima within 0.2–0.3 and 0.7–1.0 ps after the cascade initiation, whereas the number of vacancies generated under bombardment by Ar ions reaches one maximum within 0.2–0.3 ps after the cascade initiation.