Mechanism of low-temperature ion-bombardment-activated surface self-diffusion

Elementary events of low-temperature surface erosion induced by the bombardment with accelerated helium atoms and ions were studied at the atomic level. It is established that the regular arrangement of surface atoms is disturbed due to the release of energy of formation of interstitial atoms emerging at the surface and to the expenditure of part of this energy on the formation of surface defects in excited states. The adatom excitation energy allowing the short-range diffusion processes was determined experimentally.