Crater annihilation on silver by cluster ion impacts

Using the MD/MC-CEM potential we have investigated the impacts of 20 keV Ag13 cluster ions on (0 0 1) silver surfaces having one initial crater. This one was made in the zeroth ion impact. The degree of annihilation of the initial crater was investigated as a function of the lateral distance ri between the crater and the ion. The impact points were selected randomly inside a circular area with a radius of 75 Å centered on the crater. To reduce the total number of simulations, the circular area was divided into annuli. The initial and final atomic positions in the impact simulations were analyzed and the degree of annihilation of the initial crater was determined. The results indicate that for r ≲ 60 Å there is a net growth of the initial crater, and for distances r ∈ (60, 80) Å there is a small net filling of the crater.