In this paper, we present classical molecular dynamics results about the formation of amorphous pockets in silicon for energy transfers below the displacement threshold. While in binary collision simulations ions with different masses generate the same number of Frenkel pairs for the same deposited nuclear energy, in molecular dynamics simulations the amount of damage and its complexity increase with ion mass. We demonstrate that low-energy transfers to target atoms are able to generate complex damage structures. We have determined the conditions that have to be fulfilled to produce amorphous pockets, showing that the order–disorder transition depends on the particular competition between melting and heat diffusion processes. We have incorporated these molecular dynamics results in an improved binary collision model that is able to provide a good description of damage with a very low computational cost.
DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2006.11.034
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