Capacity of graphite's layered structure to suppress the sputtering yield: A molecular dynamics study

•We simulated 20–120keV C60 impact on carbon materials using MD method.•We found that small yield on graphite is mainly induced by its layered structure.•It is the first time that structure effect on sputtering is detailedly discussed.•Our results are consistent with previous experiments and simulations. 20–120keV C60 bombardment on graphite and 20keV C60 impact on diamond are studied by classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The number of atoms ejected from graphite after a 20keV C60 impact is found to be much smaller than that from diamond. By analyzing the microscopic sputtering process, we find this difference is due to the combined effects of graphite's low number density and layered structure. These two features of graphite make the pressure waves during the spike stage much weaker and the crater rim much more stable, compared to the case of diamond. While the role of atomic density on sputtering has been discussed in previous studies, effect of layered structure has not gained much attention yet. To affirm this effect and exclude the influence of density, we have also simulated C60 impact on an amorphous carbon (a-C) target whose density is very close to that of graphite. The yield of a-C is higher than that of graphite, certifying the capacity of graphite's layered structure to suppress the sputtering yield.