linear collision cascade

linear collision cascade

[′lin·ē·ər kə′lizh·ən ‚kas‚kād]

(solid-state physics)

A sputtering event in which the bombarding projectile collides directly with a small number of target atoms, which collide with others, and the sharing of energy then proceeds through many generations before one or more target atoms are ejected; the density of atoms in motion remains sufficiently small so that collisions between atoms can be ignored.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.