Computer simulation of high-energy recoils in FCC metals: cascade shapes and sizes

Displacement cascades in copper generated by primary knock-on atoms with energies from 1 keV to 500 keV were produced with the computer code MARLOWE. The sizes and other features of the point defect distributions were measured as a function of energy. In the energy range from 30 keV to 50 keV there is a transition from compact single damage regions to chains of generally closely-spaced, but distinct multiple damage regions. The average spacing between multiple damage regions remains constant with energy. Only a small fraction of the recoils from fusion neutrons is expected to produce widely separated subcascades