P. Vonblanckenhagen et al., ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY OF HIGH-VELOCITY CLUSTER-IMPACT INDUCED NANOSTRUCTURES, Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section B, Beam interactions with materials and atoms, 122(3), 1997, pp. 322-324
Beams of high-velocity clusters can be used for micromachining by reac
tive accelerated cluster erosion (RACE), Atomic force microscopy of is
olated impact-induced structures on Si or Pyrex glass reveals nanomete
r scale elevations instead of craters, pointing at transient localized
melting of the target material.