Recoils, flows and explosions: surface damage mechanisms in metals and semiconductors during 50 eV 50 keV ion bombardment

We review some recent simulation results on mechanisms of damage production close to a surface during ion irradiation. The simulation work encompasses studies of several metals and semiconductors at irradiation energies rangi ng from a few tens of eVs to 50 keV. The results show that in dense metals the presence of a surface can dramatically enhance the damage production up to energies of at least 50 keV. The added damage is mostly in the form of v acancy clusters. which can extend quire jeep, similar to 10 nm, in the samp le. In semiconductors. by contrast, the surface in general has little effec t on the damage production in bulk. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ ts reserved.