Atomistic Model of Wet Chemical Etching of Swift Heavy Ion Tracks

We present a multiscale model describing wet chemical etching of swift heavy ion tracks in olivine on the atomic scale. The approach combines the Monte Carlo code TREKIS and molecular dynamics for simulations of excitation and structure transformations of the material after an ion impact. Analysis of the obtained atomic positions in the proximity of the ion trajectory allows us to build up the algorithm of atom-by-atom removal from the etching surface. The model describes the primary etching of the highly damaged cylindrical track core followed by dissociation of the peripheral region and formation of etched channels, cross-section shapes of which depend on the crystal orientations relative to the incident ion beam.