Desorption of silver atoms from benzene-covered Ag(1 1 1) by energetic Ar⁺ bombardment

Experiments have been conducted to gain insight into the processes of desorption of neutral species from surfaces covered with organic molecules due to bombardment with keV particles. The system is comprised of benzene molecules adsorbed onto Ag(1 1 1) and bombarded with 8 keV Ar⁺ ions. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the same system have been performed. Results show that the presence of the benzene alters the yield, the kinetic energy distributions, and the angular distributions of the silver atoms. These changes of the desorption characteristics are the result of collisions between the Ag atoms and the benzene molecules adsorbed to the surface. As more benzene is adsorbed to the surface, the changes to the Ag atom desorption characteristics become more pronounced. The simulations reproduce the modifications to the Ag atom energy and angle distributions.