Cylindrical spike model for the formation of diamondlike thin films by ion deposition

/nS of nT rearrangements and nS atoms in the spike volume as the crucial parameter characterizing the ability of a given ion–target combination to achieve complete rearrangement of the spike volume. nT/nS>1 is the optimum condition for diamondlike film growth. For aC films the ion energy dependence of nT/nS agrees well with the measured sp3 bond fraction. For Ar+-ion-assisted deposition of aC we find nT/nS>1 above 50 eV with no pronounced ion energy dependence. Furthermore, our model predicts optimum conditions for the formation of cubic boron nitride between 50 eV and 3 keV.