Simulation of ion beam sputtering with SDTrimSP, TRIDYN and SRIM

Abstract

• We present a comparison between experimental sputter data and binary Monte Carlo simulation programs SRIM, TRIDYN and SDTrimSP, which provide a detailed insight into the capabilities of the commonly used programs to simulate ion sputtering in a quantitative way. • We show that SDTrimSP is able to describe different features of ion beam erosion quantitatively and in good agreement with many experimental data. • We reveal very important discrepancies for simulation results obtained with SRIM, in particular the angular distribution of sputtered atoms for light target elements and the sputter yield dependence on ion incidence angle. • We also present a comparison with experimental data which shows the limitations of the commonly used ZBL potential to correctly describe low energy atomic collisions. A quantitative simulation of ion beam sputtering and related collision cascade effects is essential for applications of ion beam irradiation in thin film deposition, surface treatment and sculpting with focused ion beams, ion beam smoothing of surfaces and ion-induced nanopattern formation. The understanding of fundamental ion–solid interaction processes relevant for nanostructure formation, ion-induced mass redistribution, sputter yield amplification, ion beam mixing and dynamic compositional changes requires reliable simulations of ion-solid interaction processes in particular at low ion energies. In this contribution we discuss the possibilities, the key benefits and the limitations of three popular binary collision Monte Carlo simulation programs (SDTrimSP, TRIDYN and SRIM). The focus will be set to the calculation of angle dependent sputter yields, angular distribution of sputtered particles, sputter yields for compound materials, sputter yield amplification effects, as well as the extraction of parameters relevant for modeling ion-induced surface pattern formation from vacancy and recoil atom distributions.