Sputtering by Particle Bombardment

Abstract

Sputtering is caused by a series of atomic collisions between the incident projectiles and target atoms and between the target atoms themselves. These collision cascades can be followed with computer programs and with the Boltzmann transport equation. The two main approaches with computer programs are the binary collision approximation (BCA) and molecular dynamics (MD); they are both based on classical dynamics. Programs based on BCA describe sputtering by a sequence of independent binary collisions between atoms, whereas MD simulates the time evolution of the multiple interaction of each moving atom with all the atoms in some surrounding. The BCA approach can be regarded to be based on sequential event logic, whereas the MD approach is based on multiple interaction logic according to Harrison 1. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages 2, 3.