Although computer simulations of ion irradiation effects have shed much lig
ht on the atom-level mechanisms of damage production in elemental materials
, not much is known as to what extent the damage production is affected by
the chemical composition of compounds. Using molecular dynamics simulations
with realistic many-body potentials we now examine the irradiation effects
in two quite different materials, covalently bonded GaAs and the metal all
oy Cu3Au. The results show that the damage production and atom relocation d
istances can be significantly different for the elemental constituents of t
he compounds, and that the relative difference is likely to be most importa
nt in relatively low-energy (similar to1 keV) cascades. (C) 2001 Elsevier S
cience B.V. All rights reserved.