Impact-energy dependence of atomic mobility in diamondlike carbon film growth

In this paper, the deposition of energetic C-2 clusters on silicon and diamond surfaces is investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. The impact energy ranges from 0.5 to 60 eV in order to compare with experiments of diamondlike carbon (DLC) film synthesis by femtosecond (fs) pulsed laser deposition. The influence of the impact energy on the deposition dynamics as well as the structure of the synthesized films is addressed. Simulations show that at the earlier stage of the deposition, the mobility of surface atoms, especially the recoil atoms, is enhanced at elevated incident energies, and contributes to the smooth growth of DLC films. Our results are consistent with experimental observations.