Regular Article

Exploration of multifragmentation of Ar clusters with incident protons^⋆

¹ Department of Physics, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USA
² MBN Research Center, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
³ On leave from A.F. Ioffe Physical Technical Institute, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia

^a e-mail: surdutov@oakland.edu

Received: 12 June 2019
Received in final form: 13 September 2019
Published online: 21 November 2019

Abstract

The possibility of multifragmentation of large Ar clusters by incident protons is assessed using the multiscale approach to radiation damage with ions. The characteristics of proton propagation in liquid Ar are calculated and the shock wave prediction is tested theoretically. The shock wave pressure is compared to the surface tension pressure at the surface of clusters and the condition for multifragmentation is explored. The dynamics of irradiated Ar clusters is studied using classical molecular dynamics simulations; different aspects of their survival or fragmentation are observed and discussed. The studies are done at different values of impact parameter of ions with respect to spherical droplets. A size distribution of Ar droplets after irradiation is obtained.