Theoretical studies of ion bombardment: Many-body interactions

Abstract

Many-body forces obtained by the embedded-atom method are incorporated into the description of low-energy collisions and surface ejection processes in molecular dynamics simulations of sputtering from metal targets. Bombardment of small, single-crystal Cu targets (400–500 atoms) in three different orientations ({100}, {110}, {111}) by 5-keV Ar+ ions have been simulated. The results are compared to simulations using purely pairwise additive interactions. Significant differences in the spectra of ejected atoms are found.