Positron annihilation study of voids in a neutron irradiated aluminum single crystal

We have measured the lifetimes of positrons in an aluminum single crystal which was irradiated to a fast neutron fluence of 1.5·10²¹ n/cm² (>0.18 MeV) at 50°C. These irradiation conditions produced 4.2·10¹⁴ voids/cm³ with a mean diameter of 330 ?, as determined by both small-angle x-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The positron lifetime spectra were resolved into three lifetime components of 100, 300, and 500 ps. The short lifetime component is a result of fast trapping of positrons by the voids; the long lifetime components result from annihilations within the voids. The intensity of the long lifetime components increases with temperature in the range 80 to 300 K and supports the model of a positron state at the void surface. The positron diffusion coefficient appears to have aT ^1/2-dependence. A magnetic quenching experiment shows no indication of positronium formation. Finally, an isochronal heat treating sequence shows that the voids anneal out between 200 and 300°C, and that the lifetime spectrum after annealing is described by a single component of 170 ps, the observed lifetime in unirradiated aluminum. Research sponsored in part by the U.S.Atomic Energy Commission under contract with the Union Carbide Corporation.     

Positrons and electron-irradiation induced defects in the layered semiconductor InSe

The positron annihilation characteristics of the layered semiconductor InSe have been investigated. No evidence for low temperature positron trapping is found in as-grown and heavily deformed InSe. The temperature dependence of the S-parameter in these sample exhibits an increase rate in good agreement with the linear expansion coefficient along the c-axis. The positron lifetime spectra of electron-irradiated 0.01% Sn-doped InSe show a long-lifetime component of 336 ps which is tentatively attributed to positrons trapped at isolated In vacancies. Isochronal annealing experiments performed on these samples show that the recovery of the positron lifetime measured at 77K is accomplished in two stages. The first, starting after annealing at 150K, could be induced by the formation of complexes (V_In-Sn_In). The second stage, observed at temperatures T375K, is attributed to the dissociation of these complexes and subsequent annealing of the In vacancies.     

Positron annihilation at defects in sintered high-T c perovskite superconductors

We report positron lifetime measurements in sintered superconducting YBa₂Cu₃O_7–x and GdBa₂Cu₃O_7–x oxides. It is shown that the thermal behaviour of the positron lifetime spectra strongly depends on the preparation of the ceramics. A lifetime of 190±3 ps is attributed to oxygen deficient regions. Two lifetimes of 251±7 ps and 225 ±5 ps are attributed to a cation vacancy presenting a temperature dependent atomic arrangement. The lifetime transition (251225ps) occurs during decreases in temperature across the resistivity superconducting transition. This lifetime change indicates that the volume of the cation vacancy decreases in the superconducting state.     

Defect study on electron irradiated GaAs by means of positron annihilation

Measurements of the positron lifetime and Doppler-broadened annihilation-radiation have been performed in electron-irradiated GaAs. The positron lifetime at the irradiation induced defects was 0.250 ns at 300 K. The defect clustering stage was found to occur at around 520–620 K, and the coarsening and annealing stage is believed to be above 620 K. Similar annealing stages were also observed in GaAs lightly doped with Si (0.2×10¹⁸ cm^–3). Both the lifetime and the S-parameter in the irradiated GaAs were found to decrease with temperature from 300 K to 100 K, suggesting the coexistence of shallow traps in electron irradiated GaAs.     

Evidence of formation of tetravacancies in uniformly oxygen irradiated n-type silicon

High purity n-type silicon single crystal with resistivity in the order of 4000 Ω cm has been irradiated with high-energy oxygen ions at room temperature up to a fluence of 5E15 ions/cm². The energy of the beam was varied from 3 to 140 MeV using a rotating degrader to achieve a depthwise near-uniform implantation profile. Radiation induced defects and their dynamics have been studied using positron annihilation spectroscopy along with isochronal annealing up to 700 °C in steps of 50 °C for 30 min. After annealing the sample at 200 °C for 30 min, formation of silicon tetravacancies has been noticed. The formation of the tetravacancies was found to be due to agglomeration of divacancies present in the irradiated sample. An experimentally obtained positron lifetime value of 338±10 ps has been reported for silicon tetravacancies, which has a very close agreement with the value obtained from recent theoretical calculations. The tetravacancies were found to dissociate into trivacancy clusters upon further annealing. The trivacancies thus obtained were observed to agglomerate beyond 400 °C to form larger defect clusters. Finally, all the defects were found to anneal out after annealing the sample at 650 °C.     

Variation of electronic properties and evidence for a reversible defect induced metal to semiconductor transition in PbMo6S8 observed by ion irradiation and subsequent annealing of thin films

The influence of lattice disorder varied by low temperature irradiation with 20 MeV³²S-ions and subsequent isochronal thermal annealing on Hall-effectR _H (T), resistivityp(T) and superconducting critical temperatureT _c of thin films of the Chevrel-phase PbMo₆S₈ is reported. It is found that the well known, unusual sensitivity ofT _c is correlated with drastic changes of normal state transport properties e.g.R _H (T) andp(T). In the low fluence regime (6·10¹³ cm^–2,T _c 2 K) annealing leads to a monotonous restoration of the initial properties with the main recovery occurring at temperatures as low as 500 K. Contrary to this, annealing of highly disordered samples (10¹⁵ cm^–2) creates semiconductor-like conduction behavior. This manifests itself by a strong increase of the electrical resistivity with decreasing temperature which becomes more pronounced at higher annealing temperaturesT _A . AfterT _A =800 K the resistivityp(15K) is enhanced by more than a factor of 1000 withp(15K)/p(280 K)=210 compared to as irradiated. Further annealing at 900 K and 1000K results in the reappearance of metallicp(T)-behavior and superconductivity (T _c >10K). The observed effects can be understood by systematic changes of the electronic density of states consistent with an earlier proposed defect model.     

Positron annihilation studies of defects in helium-irradiated silicon

Positron annihilation studies have been carried out on Si-n irradiated with He⁺ ions at the V.U.B. cyclotron, to a dose of 4×10¹⁷ He/cm². No temperature dependence on the S-parameter and lifetimes is seen below the irradiation temperature. The positron lifetime associated to the created defects is 290 ps. During the isochronal annealing, this lifetime stays constant up to 700 K. It is attributed to the annihilation of positrons from large vacancy-clusters filled with He atoms. From the isochronal annealing results, only one annealing stage is seen. This annealing stage which extends over a long range of temperature 700–1000 K, is ascribed to the degassing of helium atoms from defects and the growth of vacancy-clusters. The lifetime of positrons in those defects reaches a value of about 530±30 ps at 1000 K, indicating that the vacancy-clusters formed have a mean size of more than 8 vacancies.     

Irradiation-induced atomic defects in SiC studied by positron annihilation

The present paper reports on positron lifetime measurements on atomic defects in SiC after low-temperature (80 K) electron irradiation of low (0.47 MeV) and high (2.5 MeV) electron energies and doses from 1.8×10¹⁷ to 1.9×10¹⁹ e/cm² as well as after subsequent isochronal annealing up to 1900 K. For these studies the single crystals of nitrogen doped (2–3×10¹⁸ cm^–3) SiC grown by a modified Lely technique with hexagonal structure (6H polytype) were used.According to the positron lifetime measurements, very different types of vacancy-like positron traps are introducted after irradiation with electrons of either low or high energy. The formation of defect agglomerates and their decay at high temperatures is studied during isochronal annealing and related to earlier studies.Paper presented at the 132nd WE-Heraeus-Seminar on Positron Studies of Semiconductor Defects, Halle, Germany, 29 August to 2 September 1994     

Positron annihilation study of spin-crossover in [Fe x Zn1−x (ptz)6](BF4)2 single crystals

Positron lifetime measurements were carried out on [Fe _x Zn_1–x (ptz)₆](BF₄)₂ single crystals in the temperature range of 72–300 K. Complementary Doppler broadening spectra were also recorded at room temperature. The probability of the formation of o-Ps (lifetime 500–1400 ps) was between 10–30%. Both the spin density and the lattice parameters of the sample affected the lifetime of o-Ps through the ortho-para conversion and the pick-off annihilation, respectively. The positron annihilation technique proved to be a sensitive detector of the spin-crossover⁵T₂ ¹A₁ and of the concomitant phase transformation.     

Positron annihilation study of helium clustering in alpha irradiated copper

Abstract

Helium clustering in alpha irradiated copper has been investigated by positron annihilation spectroscopy. Pure copper samples have been homogeneously helium implanted using a cyclotron, yielding helium concentrations of 100 appm and 400 appm. Post-implantation positron lifetime and Doppler broadened annihilation lineshape measurements have been carried out on these Cu samples as a function of isochronal annealing temperature. An annealing stage observed in the isochronal annealing curve viz., a marked reduction in the resolved lifetime τ₂ and an increase of its intensity I ₂, is explained as due to the formation of helium bubble embryos. At higher annealing temperatures, τ₂ corresponding to helium bubbles increases and saturates while its intensity I ₂ decreases, indicating an increase in the size of the bubble with a concomitant decrease in the bubble concentration. This stage is interpreted to be the bubble growth stage. From an analysis of positron lifetime parameters in the growth stage, helium stom density, bubble size and bubble concentration have been deduced at various annealing temperatures. The bubble characteristics are found to be affected by the helium dose. The present results on direct helium implanted Cu are compared with those of our earlier study on n-irradiated Cu-B, where helium was introduced using ¹⁰B(n, α)⁷ Li reaction.     

A slow positron lifetime study of the annealing behaviour of an amorphous silicon layer grown by MBE

We have studied MBE grown amorphous silicon, which was recrystallized at different temperatures for one hour, with a pulsed positron beam. A positron lifetime of 538±10 ps in the as-grown state is attributed to microvoids containing at least 10 vacancies. An incompletely recrystallized sample annealed at 500°C shows an additional long lifetime from ortho-positronium (o-Ps) pick-off annihilation. The o-Ps component disappears for samples, recrystallized at 700°C and above, and the defect lifetime steadily decreases with higher annealing temperature until a value of 310 ps is reached for the layer annealed at 1200°C. This value is explained by positron trapping at dislocations or small vacancy defects stabilized by dislocations or impurities.Paper presented at the 132nd WE-Heraeus-Seminar on Positron Studies of Semiconductor Defects, Halle, Germany, 29 August to 2 September 1994     

Positron annihilation study of voids in a neutron irradiated aluminum single crystal

We have measured the lifetimes of positrons in an aluminum single crystal which was irradiated to a fast neutron fluence of 1.5·10²¹ n/cm² (>0.18 MeV) at 50°C. These irradiation conditions produced 4.2·10¹⁴ voids/cm³ with a mean diameter of 330 Å, as determined by both small-angle x-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The positron lifetime spectra were resolved into three lifetime components of 100, 300, and 500 ps. The short lifetime component is a result of fast trapping of positrons by the voids; the long lifetime components result from annihilations within the voids. The intensity of the long lifetime components increases with temperature in the range 80 to 300 K and supports the model of a positron state at the void surface. The positron diffusion coefficient appears to have aT ^1/2-dependence. A magnetic quenching experiment shows no indication of positronium formation. Finally, an isochronal heat treating sequence shows that the voids anneal out between 200 and 300°C, and that the lifetime spectrum after annealing is described by a single component of 170 ps, the observed lifetime in unirradiated aluminum.     

Amorphous hydrogenated silicon studied by positron lifetime spectroscopy

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) prepared by dc glow discharge in silane was investigated by positron lifetime measurements at room temperature. The lifetime spectrum shows considerably longer lifetimes than in simultaneously measured Si single crystals. The dominant component with the time constant ₂=402 ps is discussed thoroughly in conjunction with positron trapping at microvoids containing more than 10 to 15 vacancies. Positron trapping at H-saturated dangling bonds cannot be ruled out. The long-lived component with ₃=1800 ps (I ₃=0.06) indicates positronium formation at larger voids.     

Studies of divacancy in Si using positron lifetime measurement

The charge state dependence of positron lifetime and trapping at divacancy (V₂) in Si doped with phosphorus or boron has been studied after 15 McV electron irradiation up to a fluence of 8.0×10¹⁷ e/cm². The positron trapping cross sections for V ₂ ^2– , V ₂ ^– and V ₂ ⁰ at 300 K were about 6×10^–14, 3×10^–14 and 0.1–3×10^–14 cm², respectively. For V ₂ ⁺ , however, no positron trapping was observed. The marked difference in the cross sections comes from Coulomb interaction between the positron and the charged divacancy. The trapping rates for V ₂ ⁰ and V ₂ ^2– have been found to increase with decreasing temperature in the temperature range of 10–300 K. These results are well interpreted by a two-stage trapping model having shallow levels with energy of 9 meV (V ₂ ⁰ ) and 21 meV (V ₂ ^2– ). The appearance of a shallow level for V ₂ ⁰ can not be explained by a conventional Rydberg state model. The lifetime (290–300 ps) in V ₂ ⁰ is nearly constant in the temperature range from 10 to 300 K, while that in V ₂ ^2– increases from 260 ps at 10 K to 320 ps at 300 K. The lifetime (260 ps) in V ₂ ^2– is shorter than that in V ₂ ⁰ at low temperature, which is due to the excess electron density in V ₂ ^2– . At high temperature, however, the longer lifetime of V ₂ ^2– than that of V ₂ ⁰ is attributed to lattice relaxation around V ₂ ^2– .     

Lifetime of charged and neutral B hadrons using event topology

The lifetimes of charged and neutral B hadrons have been measured using data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP between 1991 and 1993. B hadrons are tagged as jets with a secondary vertex and the charge of the B candidate is taken to be the sum of the charges of the particles in the secondary vertex. Approximately 1,434,000 multihadronic Z⁰ decays yielded 1817 B hadron candidates. The B purity was estimated to be around 99.1±0.3%, and 83% (70%) of the events measured as neutral (charged) came from neutral (charged) B's. The mean lifetimes of charged and neutral B hadrons were found to be 1.72±0.08 (stat.) ±0.06 (syst.) ps and 1.58±0.11 (stat.)±0.09 (syst.) ps respectively. The ratio of their lifertimes, _charged/_neutral, was 1.09 _–0.10 ^+0.11 (stat.)±0.08 (syst.). By making assumptions about the B _s ⁰ and _b ⁰ states, the B⁺ and B⁰ meson lifetimes were determined to be _B+ = 1.72 ± 0.08 (stat.) ±0.06 (syst.) ps and _B+ = 1.63 ± 0.14 (stat.)±0.13 (syst.) ps and the ratio of their lifetimes was:_B+/_B0 = 1.06 _–0.11 ^+0.13 ±0.10. The mean B lifetime was also deduced to be <> > = 1.64 ±0.06 (stat.)±0.04 (syst.) ps.     

Positron mobility in polyethylene in the 60–400 K temperature range

We have determined the positron mobility (₊) in polyethylene samples (67.2% crystalline, glass transition temperatureT _g=151 K) in the 64–400 K temperature range by Doppler shift measurements. A method based on the simulataneous observation of two lines from¹³³Ba and¹³⁷Cs radioactive sources together with the positron annihilation line, was employed to measure the Doppler shift of the 511 keV line as a function of the electric field applied to the samples. With this method we were able to measure at the same time the drift velocity of positrons and theS parameter. This parameter is very important in the interpretation of the mobility trend in samples where the positron states change with temperature. The positron mobility was corrected for positronium formation. ₊ at 64 K is 31.7±0.8 cm² V^–1 s^–1 then decreases up to 123 K, increases at 148 K and decreases again up to 170 K (₊=26.9±0.8 cm² V^–s^–). This sharp change in mobility is centred around the glass transition temperature of our samples. Then the mobility remains almost constant up to 230 K. From 250 K to 377 K, ₊ increases and reaches the value of 38.4±1.0 cm² V^–1s^–1. The corrected experimental data were well fitted by a simple model taking into account scattering and a thermally activated process (hopping mechanism).     

Temperature dependence of positron annihilation parameters in neutron irradiated molybdenum

Positron lifetime measurements have been performed for molybdenum samples containing different densities of voids and dislocation loops. The samples consisted of single crystal molybdenum exposed to 2.7×10¹⁸ fast neutrons/cm₂ at 60°C, and subsequently annealed at 650°, 725°, 800°, and 875°C in vacuum (p<10^–7 Torr). After each annealing, where the densities of voids and loops were changed, positron lifetime measurements were performed in the temperature interval [–194°, 285°C]. In two-term fits of the measured spectra the longer lifetime, _e2-460 ps corresponds to an intensityI _e2 increasing with sample temperature. The shorter lifetime _e1 decreases with increasing temperature. A three-state trapping model with and without detrapping is discussed, and appears to be incapable of explaining the observed temperature dependences. A four-state positron trapping model including detrapping is necessary and satisfactory. It describes positron trapping to voids and trapping to dislocation loops, which is followed by a competition between detrapping and positron transition to jogs or other dislocation-bound defects. Mathematical expressions of the four-state trapping model including detrapping are worked out and calculations of the intensityI _e2 are compared with the experimental values ofI _e2. By use of special models for the temperature dependence of trapping rates, numerical values can be determined for the positron-dislocation-binding energy and for specific positron trapping rates.     

Positron studies of hydrogen-defect interactions in proton irradiated molybdenum

Molybdenum single crystals are irradiated at 20 K with 6 MeV protons. The radiation damage and lattice defect annealing is studied by positron lifetime spectroscopy in the temperature range from 15 to 720 K. Loss of vacancies due to recombination with mobile interstitials is observed at 40 K (Stage I) in agreement with resistivity measurements. This is the first time Stage I is observed by positrons below 77 K. The implanted hydrogen decorates the vacancies around 100 K, which is consistent with a hydrogen migration energy in molybdenum:E _M ^H = 0.3–0.4 eV. Clustering of spatially correlated vacancies takes place in a wide temperature region below the usual vacancy clustering stage (Stage III). Stage III is observed at rather low temperatures (400–480 K) due to the very high vacancy concentration. Hydrogen bound to vacancies and vacancy clusters is released above 540 K, which puts an upper limit to the hydrogen binding energy:E _B ^H 1.4 eV. The present work emphasizes the advantage of employing a vacancy sensitive technique to study hydrogen in metals, where its intrinsic solubility is low. In such metals (as molybdenum) both the effective solubility and the effective mobility of hydrogen are strongly influenced by the presence of vacancies.     

Production rate and decay lifetime measurements ofBs0 mesons at LEP usingDs and? mesons

The study of the properties of inclusive production ofD _s mesons and of events in which a and a muon are present in the same jet provides two independent measurements of the probability,f _s ^w , for a heavy quark to hadronize into a strangeB orD meson. The data sample analysed corresponds to 243,000 hadronicZ ⁰ decays. The combined value of these measurements isf _s ^w =0.19±0.06±0.08. From the flight distance distributions ofD _s and of (-lepton) secondary vertices, with the lepton emitted at high transverse momentum relative to the jet axis, two values are obtained for theB _s ⁰ meson lifetime. Combining these measurements with a previous result based on the study ofD _s- events, theB _s ⁰ meson lifetime is measured to be: 0.96±0.37 ps.     

Positron annihilation in electron-irradiated n-type gap crystals

Abstract

The defects in n-GaP crystals irradiated by 2.3 MeV electrons up to 1 × 10¹⁹ cm^?2 at RT were studied by means of positron annihilation (angular correlation) and electrical property measurements. It was found that positrons are trapped in some radiation-induced vacancy-type defects (acceptors) but that the effect saturates at high electron fluences (D1 × 10¹⁸ cm^?2). The trapping rate in irradiated samples increases with temperature in the range 77–300 K. Post-irradiation isochronal annealing reveals the positron traps clustering at about 200–280°C. All positron sensitive radiation-induced defects disappear upon annealing up to 500°C.