COLLISION DYNAMICS BETWEEN GOLD CLUSTERS AND GOLD THIN-FILMS

The collisions between gold clusters, with energy of 3250 eV, and gold thin films have been investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. A hybrid potential based on the tight-binding method plus the Moliere potential has been developed and applied in the simulations. The radiation damage at atomic scale and the formation of craters on the film surfaces are studied by taking snapshots of atomic locations at various times during an event. Besides, the collision statistics induced by cluster impacts have also been studied and compared with that from a monoatomic species impinging at the same energy per atom. It is found that for the case of cluster bombardment, the gold projectiles may reach higher energy, larger range and have longer slowing down time.