  Although the effects of the electronic excitations during high-energy
radiation damage processes are not currently understood, it is shown that their
role in the interaction of radiation with matter is important. We perform
molecular dynamics simulations of high-energy collision cascades in
bcc-tungsten using the coupled two-temperature molecular dynamics (2T-MD) model
that incorporates both the effects of electronic stopping and electron-phonon
interaction. We compare the combination of these effects on the induced damage
with only the effect of electronic stopping, and conclude in several novel
insights. In the 2T-MD model, the electron-phonon coupling results in less
damage production in the molten region and in faster relaxation of the damage
at short times. These two effects lead to significantly smaller amount of the
final damage at longer times.
