Effect of neutron irradiation of colorless sapphire (leucosapphire) single crystals on their absorption and luminescence spectra

Features of the thermoradiative changes in the optical absorption and luminescence spectra of leucosapphire (colorless sapphire) crystals irradiated by neutron fluences within the range 5·10¹⁵ to 5·10¹⁹ cm⁻² have been studied in the visible region. The stepwise character of these processes was established as well as the basic steps involved in bleaching the induced color of the wafers as a result of isochronal annealing. Some anomalies have been observed in the temperature dependence of the optical density of the 460–620 nm bands, the activation energies for the color centers as well as the color center concentrations have been calculated, and the nature of the radiation-induced centers has been analyzed. An analytical expression is proposed to describe the accumulation kinetics for the centers during irradiation of the crystals by reactor neutrons. It is concluded that there is an interconnection between, for example, the 460 nm color centers and the 540 nm luminescence centers, and that there is a common mechanism for the process of radiation-induced defect formation, initially responsible for their formation in the crystal. The possible effect of reabsorption of radiation on the behavior of the Y(Φ) curve in the irradiated material is discussed. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 247–251, March–April, 2007.     

CO2 laser-induced crystallization of sol–gel-derived indium tin oxide films

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films prepared by the sol–gel method have been deposited by the dip-coating process on silica substrates. CO₂ laser is used for annealing treatments. The electrical resistivity of sol–gel-derived ITO thin films decreased following crystallization after exposure to CO₂ laser beam. The topological and electrical properties of the irradiated surfaces have been demonstrated to be strongly related to the coating solution and to the laser processing parameters. Optimal results have been obtained for 5 dip-coating layers film from 0.4 mol/l solution irradiated by 0.6 W/m² laser power density. In this case, homogeneous and optically transparent traces were obtained with a measured sheet resistance of 1.46×10² Ω/□.     

Study of structure and optical luminescence of C+6 (80 MeV) ion irradiated CdS: Fe system

Iron doped CdS nanocrystals have been synthesized by using aqueous solution precipitation method. Samples of CdS:Fe have been subjected to irradiation using C⁺⁶ (80 MeV) under of 1×10¹³ ions/cm². For characterization, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Photoluminescence (PL) and Optical absorption studies have been performed. The system has been found in hexagonal phase having particle size distribution 18–20 nm. Photoluminescence intensity has been found to decrease, while optical band gap has been found to increase in irradiated samples.     

Analysis and optimization of propagation losses in LiNbO3 optical waveguides produced by swift heavy-ion irradiation

The propagation losses (PL) of lithium niobate optical planar waveguides fabricated by swift heavy-ion irradiation (SHI), an alternative to conventional ion implantation, have been investigated and optimized. For waveguide fabrication, congruently melting LiNbO₃ substrates were irradiated with F ions at 20 MeV or 30 MeV and fluences in the range 10¹³–10¹⁴ cm⁻². The influence of the temperature and time of post-irradiation annealing treatments has been systematically studied. Optimum propagation losses lower than 0.5 dB/cm have been obtained for both TE and TM modes, after a two-stage annealing treatment at 350 and 375^∘C. Possible loss mechanisms are discussed.     

Kinetics of the initial stage in a first-order phase transformation in thin films

The nucleation and growth of islands of a new phase on the surface of solids has been studied both experimentally and theoretically for the particular case of the transition from the pyrochlore to perovskite phase in a thin film of a lead zirconate-titanate ferroelectric. This transformation was chosen because the new-phase islands have a stable circular shape in this case, a relatively large size (10⁻⁵–10⁻⁴ m) permitting their observation with an optical microscope, and a low growth rate (10⁻⁸–10⁻⁹ m/s). A theoretical analysis of the process, based on the kinetic theory of first-order phase transitions proposed earlier, has been carried out and the behavior in time of all main characteristics of a phase transformation, namely, nucleation rate, concentration of the new-phase islands, their size distribution, and relative overheating, has been calculated. The same characteristics have been measured experimentally, thus permitting one for the first time to make a thorough comparison of the theoretical with experimental data on the kinetics of first-order phase transitions. They have been found to be in a good agreement. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 121–126 (January 1997)     

Kinetics of radiation-induced segregation in 12Cr-MoWSiVNbB steel after Ni<Superscript>++</Superscript> and He<Superscript>+</Superscript> ion irradiation

Ferritic-martensitic 12Cr-MoWSiVNbB (EP-823) steel was irradiated with 7 MeV Ni⁺⁺ ions within fluence interval 5 × 10¹⁸−5.4 × 10¹⁹ ions/m² and with 30 and 70 keV He⁺ ions within fluence interval 10²⁰–10²¹ ions/m² at 500°C. Results from a comparative analysis of Cr and Si radiation-induced segregation profiles near the surface are presented. Dependence of the amount of surface segregation on damage dose, displacement generation rate, and radiation-induced point defects concentration is established.     

Kinetics of electron tunneling transfer in KH<Subscript>2</Subscript>PO<Subscript>4</Subscript> and NH<Subscript>4</Subscript>H<Subscript>2</Subscript>PO<Subscript>4</Subscript> crystals with hydrogen bonds

A model of electron transfer by tunneling between trapped electron and hole centers in crystals with hydrogen bonds under the conditions of thermostimulated mobility of one carrier type in the recombination process has been developed. The proposed model describes all features in the kinetics of induced optical density relaxation observed in nonlinear optical crystals of KH₂PO₄ (KDP) and NH₄H₂PO₄ (ADP) on a wide temporal scale (10⁻⁸–10 s) under pulsed irradiation. The results of model calculations have been compared with experimental data on the photoinduced transient optical absorption (TOA) in KDP and ADP crystals in the visible and UV ranges. The nature of the radiation-induced defects, which account for the TOA, and the dependence of the TOA decay kinetics on the temperature, excitation power, and other experimental conditions have been considered.     

Structural changes induced on strontium barium niobate glass by femtosecond laser irradiation

Localized modification of the optical properties of erbium doped strontium barium niobate (SBN) glass has been performed using femtosecond laser irradiation. The samples, with composition SrO–BaO–Nb₂O₅–B₂O₅ and doped with 5%mol of Er³⁺, were fabricated using a melt-quenching method. The samples were irradiated with different number of pulses per spot (1–50 pulses) at two different laser fluences (2.6 and 5.6 J/cm²) by using an fs laser amplifier operating at 800 nm and generating pulses with a duration of 120 fs. Micro-luminescent microscopy, using an Ar⁺ laser as excitation source, has been used to analyze the modifications of the luminescent properties of the sample upon fs laser exposure. The emissions of the Er³⁺: ⁴I_11/2→⁴I_15/2 and ⁴I_13/2→⁴I_15/2 transitions allow appreciating the structural modifications caused by femtosecond laser exposure. The lifetimes of the levels involved in these transitions were measured inside and outside the laser irradiated region. These measurements have been compared with those obtained in bulk glass ceramic sample, which is obtained from the glass precursor by a thermal treatment in order to estimate the optimal conditions to produce nanocrystals in a localized region by ultrafast laser irradiation.     

Effects of gamma radiation treatment and plasticizer on alkaline solid polymer electrolytes

Alkaline solid polymer electrolyte films have been prepared by the solvent-casting method. Gamma radiation treatment and propylene carbonate plastisizer were used to improve the ionic conductivity of the electrolytes at ambient temperature. The structure of the irradiated electrolytes changes from semi-crystalline to amorphous, indicating that the crosslinking of the polymer has been achieved at a dose of 200 kGy. The ionic conductivity at room temperature of PVA/KOH blend increases from 10⁻⁷ to 10⁻³ Scm⁻¹ after the PVA crosslinking and when the plasticizer concentration was increased from 20 to 30%. Paper presented at the International Conference on Functional Materials and Devices 2005, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 6 – 8, 2005.     

Direct patterning of gold oxide thin films by focused ion-beam irradiation

For direct writing of electrically conducting connections and areas into insulating gold oxide thin films a scanning Ar⁺ laser beam and a 30 keV Ga⁺ focused ion beam (FIB) have been used. The gold oxide films are prepared by magnetron sputtering under argon/oxygen plasma. The patterning of larger areas (dimension 10–100 μm) has been carried out with the laser beam by local heating of the selected area above the decomposition temperature of AuO_x (130–150 °C). For smaller dimensions (100 nm to 10 μm) the FIB irradiation could be used. With both complementary methods a reduction of the sheet resistance by 6–7 orders of magnitude has been achieved in the irradiated regions (e.g. with FIB irradiation from 1.5×10⁷ Ω/□ to approximately 6 Ω/□). The energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) show a considerably reduced oxygen content in the irradiated areas, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigations, indicate that the FIB patterning in the low-dose region (10¹⁴ Ga⁺/cm²) is combined with a volume reduction, which is caused by oxygen escape rather than by sputtering. Received: 30 May 2000 / Accepted: 31 May 2000 / Published online: 13 July 2000     

Opto-chemical response of Makrofol-KG to swift heavy ion irradiation

In the present study, the effects of swift heavy ion beam irradiation on the structural, chemical and optical properties of Makrofol solid-state nuclear track detector (SSNTD) were investigated. Makrofol-KG films of 40 μm thickness were irradiated with oxygen beam (O^8 +) with fluences ranging between 10¹⁰ ion/cm² and 10¹² ion/cm². Structural, chemical and optical properties were investigated using X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy and UV–visible spectroscopy methods. It is observed that the direct and indirect band gaps of Makrofol-KG decrease after the irradiation. The XRD study shows that the crystalline size in the films decreases at higher fluences. The intensity plots of FTIR measurements indicate the degradation of Makrofol at higher fluences. Roughness of the surface increases at higher fluence.     

Thermal and optical studies on unirradiated and γ-irradiated polyester track detector

Thermal and optical properties of unirradiated and γ-irradiated polyester track detector films in the dose range of 0–14.5 Mrad have been studied by thermogravimetry (TG) and UV-Visible spectroscopic technique. The samples were irradiated with ⁶⁰Co γ-rays for doses of 4.7, 8.1 and 14.5 Mrad. The TG studies indicate that unirradiated and the γ-irradiated samples degrade in two steps. The kinetics of the two steps of degradation were also evaluated from the TG curves. Irradiation enhances the degradation rate and the effect increases further with increasing radiation dose. The optical band gaps of the unirradiated as well as the irradiated samples were also determined from the UV-Visible spectra. These studies can be used for the estimation of γ-dose using changes in absorbance and the activation energy due to γ-irradiation.     

Excitation of X rays by electrons accelerated in air in the wake wave of a laser pulse

The characteristics of X rays of a laser plasma generated in the interaction of a femtosecond pulse with solid targets in an air atmosphere have been investigated. It has been shown that the mechanism for the generation of X rays in the interaction of short intense laser pulses with solid targets in a gas atmosphere is attributed to the generation of fast electrons in the region of the filamentation of a laser pulse. It has been proven experimentally that under such conditions, the solid target irradiated by laser radiation of even a low density of about 10¹⁵ W/cm² very efficiently emits ∼10-keV photons. It has been shown theoretically that the maximum energy of accelerated electrons can reach ɛ_max ∼ 100–200 keV under these conditions. This means that the proposed method can provide characteristic radiation with the energy of photons much higher than 10 keV.     

Wear resistance of the ion-modified surface of zirconium-alloy tubes irradiated by He+ and Ar+ ion beams with wide energy spectra

The results of investigating the wear resistance of E110 alloy samples irradiated by a He⁺ + Ar⁺ beam with a wide energy spectrum are presented. Surface modification under irradiation by an Ar⁺ beam at doses higher than 2 × 10¹⁸ ion/cm² is shown to cause substantial enhancement of the wear resistance of samples because the structural homogeneity of near surface layers increases, the surface roughness decreases, and its microhardness increases. The application of a mechanical-geometrical wear model based on the experimental wear characteristics determined during accelerated tests indicates that the thinning of an alloy cladding can reach rates of 10⁻⁶–10⁻³ mm/s, which agree satisfactorily with data obtained in other simulation experiments. The presence of an oxide film changes a wear process characterized by an abrasive component.     

Equivalent circuit of silicon diodes subjected to high-fluence electron irradiation

Silicon diodes with a p ⁺-n junction made in a 48-μm-thick phosphorus-doped silicon epilayer (resistivity ρ = 30 Ω cm) grown on antimony-doped Si(111) wafers (ρ = 0.01 Ω cm) are studied. The diodes are irradiated by high-energy (3.5 MeV) electrons with fluences from 5 × 10¹⁵ to 2 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻². It is shown that the conventional equivalent circuit of the diode that consists of a parallel RC network and a series-connected resistor inadequately describes the dependence of the dielectric loss tanδ on variable current frequency f in the range 1 × 10²–3 × 10⁷ Hz. Another equivalent circuit is suggested that includes not only the capacitance and resistance of the n-base (the latter increases because radiation-induced defects are compensated for by shallow donors) but also the f dependence of the capacitance of the space-charge region, which is due to retarded charge exchange between deep-level radiation-induced defects.     

The size of thermal spikes in xenon-irradiated Ag/Fe bilayers

Ag/Fe bilayers in which a submonolayer of ¹¹¹In had been deposited in the Fe layer at a distance of x=0–17 nm from the interface, were irradiated at 80 K with 450 keV Xe ions to a fluence of 3 and 6⋅ 10¹⁵ ions/cm². Perturbed Angular Correlation spectroscopy was used to monitor the microsurrounding of the ¹¹¹In tracers and to identify the radiation-induced defects. The fraction of tracer atoms being transported into the Ag layer cannot be explained by ballistic mixing, but is reproduced when assuming local thermal spikes to develop. The diffusion of ¹¹¹In into the Ag layer can be modeled if the local spikes have an average diameter of some 5 nm. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Dielectric breakdown of rubber materials by femtosecond irradiation

We report the reversible micro-structuring of a synthetic rubber polymer (cis1,4-polybutadiene (PB)) by femtosecond laser illumination. Visco-elastic relaxation of the optically damaged region was observed. The recovery time, typically 10²–10⁴ ms, can be varied by changing the irradiation pulse energy. Multi-shot-induced damage recovers on the much longer scale of 10¹–10² s. It was found that the doping of PB by 4 wt. % of pentazadiene ([4-NO₂]–phenyl–N=N–N(C₃H₇)–N=N–phenyl–[4-NO₂]) reduces the threshold of light-induced photo-modification by 20%. This is explained by photo-induced (homolytic) cleavage of the pentazadiene bonds and formation of gaseous N₂, which facilitates material failure at the irradiated spot. The recovery of optical transmission can be applied to optical memory, optical and micro-mechanical applications. The underlying mechanism of the phenomenon is discussed in terms of anelastic α- and β-relaxation (polymer backbone and chains/coils relaxation, respectively). Received: 11 October 2001 / Accepted: 9 July 2002 / Published online: 25 October 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +81-88/656-7598, E-mail: misawa@eco.tokushima-u.ac.jp     

Impedance spectra of thin permalloy films with a nanoisland structure

The behavior of the impedance spectra of island permalloy films prepared through vacuum evaporation onto optically polished glass-ceramic substrates has been investigated in the frequency range from 0.0001 to 100 MHz. A resistor-capacitor model of the films has been developed and the model parameters, for which there is a good agreement with experimental data on the frequency dependences of the real and imaginary components of the impedance, have been determined. The specific features in the behavior of the electrical and physical characteristics with variations in the thickness of the sample and the gap between the measuring electrodes have been investigated. It has been found that the relative permittivity of the films under investigation reaches values ɛ ∼ 10⁷–10⁸. The structural relaxation times have been calculated.     

Thermal- and photo-induced transformations of luminescence centers in αd-Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> anion-defective crystals

The thermal- and photo-induced transformations of luminescence centers in anion-defective crystals of α-Al₂O₃ have been investigated. It has been found that the exposure of crystals to ultraviolet light at temperatures in the range 50–900°C leads to substantial changes in their thermoluminescence and radioluminescence spectra. According to the optical absorption and photoluminescence data, the detected F-type centers have been identified and the temperature ranges of the F → F ⁺ → F ₂ transformations and their possible mechanisms have been determined. The special attention has been drawn to the detailed similarity in the formation of complex F ₂-type centers in the initially perfect α-Al₂O₃ crystals irradiated with fast neutrons and in the studied anion-defective crystals.     

FMR and TEM Studies of Co and Ni Nanoparticles Implanted in the SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Matrix

Fused silica plates have been implanted with 40 keV Co⁺ or Ni⁺ ions to high doses in the range of (0.25–1.0) × 10¹⁷ ions/cm², and magnetic properties of the implanted samples have been studied with ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) technique supplemented by transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The high-dose implantation with 3d-ions results in the formation of cobalt and nickel metal nanoparticles in the irradiated subsurface layer of the SiO₂ matrix. Co and Ni nanocrystals with hexagonal close packing and face-centered cubic structures have a spherical shape and the sizes of 4–5 nm (for cobalt) and 6–14 nm (for nickel) in diameter. Room-temperature FMR signals from ensembles of Co and Ni nanoparticles implanted in the SiO₂ matrix exhibit an out-of-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy that is typical for thin magnetic films. The dose and temperature dependences of FMR spectra have been analyzed using the Kittel formalism, and the effective magnetization and g-factor values have been obtained for Co- and Ni-implanted samples. Nonsymmetric FMR line shapes have been fitted by a sum of two symmetrical curves. The dependences of the magnetic parameters of each curve on the implantation dose and temperature are presented.