Microscopic Insights into the Sputtering of Ag{111} Induced by C₆₀ and Ga Bombardment

Molecular dynamics computer simulations have been utilized to compare the differences in the mechanism of sputtering of Ag{111} by kiloelectronvolt Ga and C 60 projectiles. The calculated kinetic energy distributions of Ag monomers and Ag 2 dimers compare favorably with experimental results. The damage caused by the C 60 particle left in the sample is less than the depth of material that the next impinging C 60 particle would remove, thus supporting the preliminary experimental observations that molecular depth profiling is possible with C 60 projectile beams.