Abstract

Using a three-dimensional molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, we investigated the atomic scale rearrangement that occurs on a Pd(0 0 1) surface after energetic bombardment by Ar at room temperature. High energy Ar bombardment provoked the significant rearrangement of Pd atoms in a ballistic manner with a fourfold symmetric lateral distribution aligned along the 〈1 1 0〉 direction. The MD simulation of uniform Ar bombardment at normal incidence on a Pd surface reproduced the experimentally observed fourfold symmetric nano-scale surface structure. The present result supports that the ballistic rearrangement of the substrate atoms plays an important role in the ion induced surface structure evolution.