Atomic scale simulation of defect production in irradiated 3C-SiC

Molecular dynamics simulations using a modified Tersoff potential have been used to study the primary damage state and statistics of defect production in displacement cascades in 3C-SiC. Recoils with energies from 0.25 to 50 keV have been simulated at 300 K. The results indicate that: (1) the displacement threshold energy surface is highly anisotropic; (2) the dominant surviving defects are C interstitials and vacancies; (3) the defect production efficiency decreases with increasing recoil energy; (4) defect clusters are much smaller and more sparse compared to those reported in metals; and (5) a small fraction of the surviving defects are antisite defects. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.