Molecular dynamics simulations of ionized cluster beam deposition: case of study of aluminum

In order to understand interactions between energetic Al clusters and Al(1 0 0) surfaces, we investigated the cluster-size dependence of the maximum substrate temperature Tmax and of the time tmax within which this temperature is reached. We considered two cases: (1) clusters with the same total energy ET and (2) clusters with the same energy per atom. The temperature Tmax changed linearly with both the energy per atom and the total energy of the cluster. When ET was constant and the cluster size increased, the time tmax approached a constant value because energy was rapidly transferred to the substrate by correlated collisions. As the size and energy of clusters increase, such correlated collisions play a progressively important role in their interactions with surfaces.