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Depth profiling by cluster projectiles as seen by computer simulations
Author(s) -
Postawa Z.,
Rzeznik L.,
Paruch R.,
Russo M. F.,
Winograd N.,
Garrison B. J.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.3417
Subject(s) - projectile , profiling (computer programming) , cluster (spacecraft) , ion , secondary ion mass spectrometry , analytical chemistry (journal) , molecular dynamics , chemistry , computational physics , range (aeronautics) , automation , materials science , computer science , aerospace engineering , physics , computational chemistry , engineering , chromatography , mechanical engineering , organic chemistry , metallurgy , programming language , operating system
Molecular dynamics computer simulations are used to probe the development of the surface morphology and the processes that determine the depth resolution in depth profiling experiments performed by secondary ion and neutral mass spectrometry (SIMS/SNMS). The Ag(111) surface is irradiated by an impact of 20‐keV Au 3 , C 60 and Ar 872 clusters that represent a broad range of cluster projectiles used in SIMS/SNMS experiments. Improvements in the simulation protocol including automation and optimal sample shape allow for at least 1000 consecutive impacts for each set of initial conditions. This novel approach allows to shrink the gap between single‐impact simulations and real experiments in which numerous impacts are used. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.