Effects of two-temperature model on cascade evolution in Ni and NiFe

We perform molecular dynamics simulations of Ni ion cascades in Ni and equiatomic NiFe under the following conditions: (a) classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations without consideration of electronic energy loss, (b) classical MD simulations with the electronic stopping included, and (c) using the coupled two-temperature MD (2T-MD) model that incorporates both the electronic stopping and the electron-phonon interactions. Our results indicate that the electronic effects are more profound in the higher energy cascades and that the 2T-MD model results in a smaller amount of surviving damage and smaller defect clusters, while less damage is produced in NiFe than in Ni. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.