Enhancement of Atomic Rearrangement in Top Surface Layers by Low Energy Ions

Assuming rectilinear trajectories for the projectile into a solid surface, a specific expression for the “energy window” of the driving atoms in a monolayer has been derived for different ion-target systems, in which the atomic displacements occur primarily in the surface layer, while the subsurface layer is kept intact. The results obtained here are in good agreement with Brice et al.’s numerical estimations and close to experimental data for ion beam assisted depositions.