Cratering by MeV–GeV ions as a function of angle of incidence

R.M. PAPALéO; R. LEAL ; C. TRAUTMANN; E.M. BRINGA

NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH B - BEAM INTERACTIONS WITH MATERIALS AND ATOMS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2003 vol. 206 p. 7 - 12

0168-583X

We report on a systematic scanning force microscope study of crater formation induced by swift heavy ions as a function of angle of incidence. PMMA films were bombarded with 197Au (20 MeV), 209Bi (2320 MeV) and 238U (2640 MeV) ions at angles è varying from 0° to 84° to the surface normal. In all cases, the length of the craters as well as rim height and length scale with (cosè)−1. Crater width showed a much weaker (cosè)−0.3 dependence. Similar angular dependences were observed for the different ion species and energies used. The experimental data is compared to molecular dynamics simulations of crater formation in a model solid. The simulations show a (cosè)−1 dependence for the crater length, but no dependence for the crater width, unless a wide initial track of excitation is used.