Collision-spike Sputtering of Au Nanoparticles

Ion irradiation of nanoparticles leads to enhanced sputter yields if the nanoparticle size is of the order of the ion penetration depth. While this feature is reasonably well understood for collision-cascade sputtering, we explore it in the regime of collision-spike sputtering using molecular-dynamics simulation. For the particular case of 200-keV Xe bombardment of Au particles, we show that collision spikes lead to abundant sputtering with an average yield of 397 +/- 121 atoms compared to only 116 +/- 48 atoms for a bulk Au target. Only around 31% of the impact energy remains in the nanoparticles after impact; the remainder is transported away by the transmitted projectile and the ejecta. The sputter yield of supported nanoparticles is estimated to be around 80% of that of free nanoparticles due to the suppression of forward sputtering.