It was recalled that the process of radiation damage, from initial defect production to microstructural evolution, occurred over a wide spectrum of time and distance scales. Its treatment required a range of theoretical models; each applicable at its own scale of time and distance. It was noted that molecular dynamics and binary collision simulations played complementary roles in characterizing the primary damage state of high-energy collision cascades. Molecular dynamics methods were needed in order to describe individual point defects, in the primary damage state, with suitable accuracy. The binary collision approximation was required in order to model the overall structure of statistically significant numbers of high-energy cascades. The information which was provided by both models was needed in order to relate defect production in the primary damage state to appropriate models of defect diffusion and interaction during microstructural evolution.

H.L.Heinisch: Radiation Effects and Defects in Solids, 1994, 129[1-2], 113-6