Molecular dynamics studies of the primary state of radiation damage

This paper summarizes recent progress in the understanding of energetic displacement cascades in metals achieved with the molecular-dynamics (MD) simulation technique. Recoil events with primary-knock-on-atom (PKA) energies up to 5 keV were simulated in Cu and Ni. The initial development of displacement cascades was similar in both metals, with replacement collision sequences providing the most efficient mechanism for the separation of interstitials and vacancies. The thermal-spike behavior in these metals, however, is quite different; Cu cascades are characterized by lower defect production and greater atomic disordering than those in Ni. The thermal spike significantly influences various other properties of cascades, such as total defect production and defect clustering.