Understanding ion beam synthesis of nanostructures: Modeling and atomistic simulations

Ion implantation, specified by parameters like ion energy, ion fluence, ion flux and substrate temperature, has become a well-established tool to synthesize buried low-dimensional nanostructures. In general, in ion beam synthesis the evolution of nanostructures is determined by the competition between ballistic and thermodynamic effects. A kinetic 3D lattice Monte-Carlo model is introduced,
which allows for a proper incorporation of collisional mixing and phase separation within supersaturated solid-solutions. It is shown, that for both the ballistically and thermodynamically dominated regimes, the Gibbs-Thomson relation is the key ingredient
in understanding nanocluster evolution. Various aspects of
precipitate evolution during implantation, formation of
ordered arrays of nanophase domains by focused ion implantation
and compound nanocluster synthesis are discussed.