A molecular dynamics study was made of the emission and propagation of an energy front from the core of an ion-induced collision cascade. A pure metal and a dilute alloy were taken as models, using embedded atom method potentials with periodic boundary conditions. Three-dimensional visualization was used to inspect the temporal evolution of the energy distribution in space. Calculations were made of the temporal evolution of the atomic density and atomic migration within the cascade core region, and it was concluded that an interpretation of the results in terms of known mechanisms was not satisfactory. The emission of the energy front played an important role in the evolution of the dynamics of the system within the cascade core region.

Ion-Induced Energy Propagating Front and Migration of Point Defects in Metals – II. C.R.S.Da Silva, C.Scherer: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 2001, 174[4], 414-22