  We present the first ab initio molecular dynamics study of collisions between
metal-oxide clusters and surfaces. The resulting trajectories reveal that the
internal degrees of freedom of the cluster play a defining role in collision
outcome. The phase space of incoming internal temperature and translational
energy exhibits regions where the collision process itself ensures that each
cluster which does not rebound from the surface assimilates seamlessly onto it
upon impact. This filtering may explain recent observations of a "fast
smoothing mechanism" during pulsed laser deposition.
