Molecular dynamics simulation for the sputtering of an Al2O3 sample bombarded with MeV Si ions

Sputtering yield and kinetic energy distribution (KED) of Al particles from an Al₂O₃ sample bombarded with 1－5 MeV Si ions have been simulated using the molecular dynamics method. These have also been measured experimentally with a conventional time-of-flight facility. In the simulation, a new interatomic potential specific to the Al₂O₃ target was developed, and both the nuclear energy loss S_n and electronic energy loss S_e were taken into consideration. By carefully adjusting the simulation parameters, the simulated sputtering yields fit well with the experimental results, and the simulated KED of Al particles also fits roughly with the experimental KED after being modified theoretically.     

Study of intermixing and Zr-silicide formation using swift heavy ion irradiation

Swift heavy ion (SHI) beam induced irradiation is an established technique for investigating structural modifications in thin films depending on the S _e sensitivity of material. Intermixing due to 120 MeV Au ion irradiation at different fluences from 10¹² to 10¹⁴ ions/cm² has been reported as a function of ion fluence in a-Si/Zr/a-Si thin films on Si substrate. The samples are characterized before (pristine) and after irradiation using Grazing Incident X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS), which confirm the formation of ZrSi at thin film interface. It is suggested that mixing is mainly due to electronic energy loss since the energy transferred from high energy ions seems to create a transient molten zone along the ion track. It is found that the interface mixing increases linearly with the increase in ion fluence. The mixing effect explained in the framework of Thermal spike model. The irradiation effect on the surface roughness of the system is measured using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) technique. The current conduction mechanism and Schottky barrier height are also calculated by taking I–V curves across the Metal/Si junction.     

Properties of 80-MeV oxygen ion irradiated ZnS:Mn nanoparticles and exploitation in nanophotonics

ZnS:Mn nanoparticles of size variation 11–17 nm were synthesized by a simple and inexpensive chemical method and confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Presuming electronic energy loss (S _e>S _n, S _n being nuclear energy loss) to be the dominant phenomenon, they were irradiated by 80-MeV energetic oxygen ions with fluence of 10¹¹ to 10¹³ ions/cm². Photoluminescence (PL) spectra revealed three major emission bands ~445 nm, ~582 nm and ~706 nm; which are ascribed to D–A pair transition, Mn emission and surface state led fluorescence activation. The recovery of Mn emission and tunable surface state emission have been observed with ion fluence variation. Infra-red (IR) spectra of irradiated samples show great extent of oscillation with respect to amplitude due to ion fluence variation however, phonon energy (~98 MeV) remains unchanged. The possible applications of these modified properties in nanophotonics are also highlighted.     

Conversion Electron Mössbauer Study of Mixing Induced by Swift Heavy Ions at the Fe/Si Interface

Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy (CEMS) was employed in order to study the mixing induced by swift Au and Ag ions at the Fe/Si interface in the Fe/Fe⁵⁷/Si system. An increase in the amount of mixing with ion fluence and electronic energy loss (S _e) has been observed. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) results provided indirect evidence to support the above observations.     

Effects of Kr and Xe ion irradiation on the structure of Y2O3 nanoprecipitates in YBCO thin film conductors

ABSTRACT

The response of Y₂O₃ nanoprecipitates in a 1-µm YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x layer from a superconducting wire Ag/YBCO/buffer metal oxides/Hastelloy to 107?MeV Kr and 167?MeV Xe ion irradiation was investigated using a combination of transmission electron microscopy, diffraction and X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometry. The direct observation of the radiation-induced tracks in Y₂O₃ nanocrystals is reported for the first time to the authors’ best knowledge. Structureless damaged regions of 5–9?nm (average 8?nm) in diameter were observed in Y₂O₃ nanocrystals when the electronic stopping power S_e was about or higher than 4.7 keV/nm. This value of S_e is the upper estimate of the minimum electronic stopping power to create damage in yttria nanocrystals. The electron diffraction patterns, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform patterns from areas extending a few nanometres around the tracks show that yttria and YBCO keep their respective cubic and orthorhombic pristine structures.     

Effect of ion velocity on SHI-induced mixing in Ti/Bi system

Energetic ion beams are proving to be versatile tools for modification and depth profiling of materials. The energy and ion species are the deciding factor in the ion-beam-induced materials modification. Among the various parameters such as electronic energy loss, fluence and heat of mixing, velocity of the ions used for irradiation plays an important role in mixing at the interface. The present study is carried out to find the effect of the velocity of swift heavy ions on interface mixing of a Ti/Bi bilayer system. Ti/Bi/C was deposited on Si substrate at room temperature by an electron gun in a high-vacuum deposition system. Carbon layer is deposited on top to avoid oxidation of the samples. Eighty mega electron volts Au ions and 100?MeV Ag ions with same value of S_e for Ti are used for the irradiation of samples at the fluences 1?×?10¹³–1?×?10¹⁴ ions/cm². Different techniques like Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction were used to characterize the pristine and irradiated samples. The mixing effect is explained in the framework of the thermal spike model. It has been found that the mixing rate is higher for low-velocity Au ions in comparison to high-velocity Ag ions. The result could be explained as due to less energy deposition in thermal spike by high-velocity ions.     

Atomic mixing of Ni2O3/SiO2, NiO/SiO2, and Ni/SiO2 interfaces induced by swift heavy ion irradiation

We have investigated the interface mixing of Ni₂O₃/SiO₂, NiO/SiO₂, and Ni/SiO₂ induced by the irradiation with Ar, Kr and Xe ions of energies ranging from 90 MeV to 260 MeV. Since these energies are in the electronic stopping regime, atomic transport processes will not be directly initiated by elastic ion–target collisions, but need to be excited by secondary processes like electron–phonon coupling or Coulomb explosion. Nevertheless, we have observed a strong mixing effect in the ceramic systems if the electronic energy loss exceeds a certain threshold value. Estimation of an effective diffusion constant indicates that diffusion takes place in the molten ion track. In contrast to the ceramics, the metallic Ni layer is still insensitive even for the highest electronic stopping power used (S_e=28 keV/nm) and does not exhibit mixing with its SiO₂ substrate. In addition, NiO/SiO₂ and Ni/SiO₂ were irradiated in the nuclear stopping regime with 600 keV Kr and 900 keV Xe–ions. Here the intermixing effect is in good agreement with the assumption of ballistic atomic transport. Received: 5 February 2002 / Accepted: 11 February 2002 / Published online: 3 May 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-711/685-3866, E-mail: bolse@ifs.physik.uni-stuttgart.de     

Studies on structural,optical and cluster size of poly(m-toluidine)–polyvinyl chloride blends

Poly(m-toluidine) (PmT), a derivative of polyaniline, has been prepared by chemical oxidation polymerization method. The synthesized PmT powder is blended with plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to achieve 20 μm thick self-supported films. These films were irradiated with 60 MeV Si⁵⁺ ions at three different fluences whose S _e (electronic energy loss) value is found to be 1.988×10³ KeV/μ m, an order of magnitude larger than 60 MeV C⁵⁺ (2.958×10² KeV/μ m). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ultraviolet-visible (UV) absorption studies of pre- and post-irradiated films of PmT–PVC blends were carried out to study the heavy ion irradiation effects on these polymer blends. An overall change in the structure of the polymer blend has been observed from FTIR studies. UV-visible spectra show a decrease in the optical band gap (E _g) and an increase in cluster size with increasing fluence. An effort is made to compare these results with our earlier studies. We found that the variation in S _e plays an important role in the structural and optical properties of PmT–PVC blends.     

The behavior of HfB2 at neutron irradiation: a simulation study

The behavior of Hafnium di-boride (HfB₂) under neutron irradiation has been simulated in a wide range of energy from 0.025?eV up to 14?MeV. The simulation and the analysis have been carried out using Geant4 and its related database. From the radiation shielding perspective, it was observed that, under thermal neutron irradiation, HfB₂ scatters neutrons with a marginally higher energy than the incident neutrons and also produces prompt gamma rays up to 11?MeV. These results would indicate that, for high-energy neutron 14?MeV, not only is HfB₂ unacceptable as a reasonable neutron absorber but also produces 20?MeV prompt gamma rays.     

Generation of amorphous surface layers in LiNbO3 by ion-beam irradiation: thresholding and boundary propagation

The refractive-index profiles induced by high-energy (5 MeV, 7.5 MeV) silicon irradiation in LiNbO₃ have been systematically determined as a function of ion fluence in the range 10¹³–10¹⁵ cm^-2. At variance with irradiations at lower energies, an optically isotropic (‘amorphous’) homogeneous surface layer is generated whose thickness increases with fluence. These results have been associated with an electronic excitation mechanism. They are discussed in relation to the well-documented phenomenon of latent (amorphous) track generation under ion irradiation, requiring a threshold value S_e,th for the electronic stopping power S_e. Our optical data have yielded a value of ≈5 keV/nm for such a threshold, within the range reported by independent single-track measurements. The propagation of the amorphous boundary into the crystal during irradiation indicates that the threshold value decreases on increasing the fluence. Complementary Rutherford backscattering–channeling and micro-Raman (on samples irradiated at 30 MeV) experiments have been performed to monitor the induced structural changes. PACS 61.80.-x; 61.80.Az; 61.80.Jh     

Ion-induced molecular ejection from D2O ice

Studies of molecules ejected from water ice by fast ions provide insight into the electronic relaxation processes and subsequent chemistry occurring in ice at very low temperatures. The ion-induced ejection of D₂O, D₂, and O₂ molecules from thin films of D₂O ice has been measured as a function of the fluence of incident MeV ions at temperatures between 10 and 140 K. For a given beam current, the O₂ yield exhibits initial transients which are slow compared with the prompt ejection of D₂O. We interpret these results as due to the build-up of O₂ in the films following fragmentation of D₂O molecules by incident ions. The fragmens re-form into new molecular species which diffuse to and escape from the surface, aided by subsequent bombardment. The D₂ transient has a prompt component, which we postulate is due to rapid formation during electronic recombination near the surface. A slow component of the D₂ transient is also observed, which may arise through a two-step process similar to that of O₂. Time-of-flight energy spectra of the ejected D₂O molecules have also been measured. Incident ion masses and energies range from those for which nuclear elastic energy deposition dominates (50 keV argon) to those for which electronic energy deposition dominates (1.5 MeV helium). The spectra cannot be described by models typically employed for the sputtering of metals. For instance, the spectra do not have maxima characteristic of the sublimation energy of the solid. In addition, the sputtering yield in the high energy part of the ejection spectrum of D₂O is too large to arise from nuclear elastic energy deposition. It must result instead from relatively energetic non-radiative relaxation of electronic excitation. For incident MeV ions that deposit their energy predominantly in electronic excitation, the low energy part of the D₂O ejection spectrum is greatly enhanced, indicative of a weakly antibinding region formed along an incident particle track. Enhanced ion yields are also found in the collision cascade region which are attributed to electronic processes.     

On the role of secondary interactions in the production of bremsstrahlung spectra from a thick target

Bremsstrahlung emission, or radiation loss, is the dominant mechanism of energy dissipation of electrons at relativistic energies greater than a few MeV when it is subjected to acceleration in the field of the nucleus or of the electrons. In this study, the Monte Carlo calculations for bremsstrahlung spectra have been described for the case of a thick tungsten target with incident electron beams from 10 to 50 MeV, where secondary interactions induced by the electrons and photons in the target, such as energy loss, absorption, scattering, and (e ⁺, e ⁻)-pair production effects, were taken into account. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Conductivity of irradiated Kapton in relation to energy loss of ions and electrons

Abstract

We have studied the effects of 2.5 MeV electron irradiation and ion (C, N, F, Si and Kr) bombardment on the electrical conductivity of a polyimide (Kapton-H) with ion energies ranging between 320 keV (N) and 1.25 GeV (Kr). In this wide range of situations we have tried to sort out the respective effects of nuclear and electronic excitation energy losses.

For all ion irradiation the conductivity is found to scale with the electronic excitation absorbed dose: i.e. a power law of conductivity versus absorbed dose with an exponent around 9 is observed. At a given absorbed dose (in Gray units) the efficiency of each ion to enhance conductivity is found to be proportional to the electronic energy loss; electrons are much less efficient than ions and thus collective excitations are required to achieve this process.

The nuclear energy loss can perhaps play some role at conductivities higher than 100 Ω^?1 m^?1, but its effects are negligible in the range explored here.     

Influence of 120 MeV S9+ ion irradiation on structural,optical and morphological properties of zirconium oxide thin films deposited by RF sputtering

The calibrated and controlled swift heavy ions (SHI) beam irradiation generate defects which can cause modifications in various properties of the materials such as structural, optical, magnetic, morphological, and chemical etc. The passage of ion through the target material causes the nuclear energy losses ($S_n$) and electronic energy losses ($S_e$). The $S_e$ dominates over $S_n$ in SHI irradiation. In the present study, ZrO₂ thin films were grown on silicon and glass substrate by using RF sputtering deposition technique. For the purpose of modifications induced by swift heavy ions, these films were irradiated by a 120 MeV S⁹⁺ ion beam of 1 pnA current, with varying ion fluences from 5E12 to 1E13 ions/cm², using the tandem accelerator at the Inter University Accelerator Center (IUAC), New Delhi, India. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns confirmed the formation of monoclinic and tetragonal phases and it was observed that XRD peaks intensity increased up to the fluence of 5E12 ions/cm² followed by opposite behavior at higher fluences. Atomic force microscope (AFM) study revealed the increased surface roughness after SHI irradiation. In addition to it, the formation of electronic transition states in optical band gap region and enhancement of absorption edge was observed from UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) results due to which direct band gap energy value decreased from those of un-irradiated samples. Photoluminescence (PL) broad emission spectra were determined using the excitation wavelength at 290 nm with the prominent peak at 415 nm which can be ascribed to Zr vacancies due to band edge emission as a result of free-exciton recombination. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) technique was used for depth profiling and elemental composition in zirconia thin films. The expected role of electronic energy loss during ion irradiation is to modify the properties of the material has been discussed.     

铪离子等离子体源离子注入铜基体的数值模拟

通过SRIM软件对铪离子等离子体源离子注入铜进行了模拟。模拟了铪离子注入铜的核阻止本领、电子阻止本领、入射深度随能量的变化,以及在不同注入条件下铪离子的摩尔浓度分布,并对模拟结果进行了分析。结果显示:能量低于6 MeV时核阻止本领占主导地位,高于6 MeV时电子阻止本领成为主要的能量损失,并且离子注入过程中会出现能量沉积的Bragg峰和质量沉积区域较集中的现象,入射深度随能量的增加而增加。     

化合物和合金中离子投影射程分布矩的计算(Ⅱ)——轻离子(Z1≤10)的射程分布矩

本文根据离子在固体材料中电子阻止截面的实验资料,给出了低能Li⁺,Be⁺,B⁺,C⁺,N⁺,O⁺,F⁺,Ne⁺等离子在固体中电子阻止截面S_e的经验公式。这些经验公式既能够很好地反映电子阻止本领的Z₁和Z₂振荡、又能正确地给出S_e随离子能量E的变化关系。用这种以实验为基础的S_e经验公式和符合于WHB势的核散射函数,计数了从H⁺到Ne⁺十种轻离子在非晶Al₂O₃,SiO₂,20/25/Nb不锈钢,LiNbO₃和UO₂等材料中的投影射程分布的一次至三次矩。将计算值与近几年的实验测量及其他人的计算结果进行了比较,在低能端,我们计算的平均投影射程R_p与实验符合得更好。 关键词：     

Optical behaviour of swift heavy ions irradiated poly(vinyl alcohol) films

Polyvinyl alcohol films were irradiated to 90 MeV O ⁶⁺ and 150 MeV Si ¹⁴⁺ ions at fluence ranging from 10¹⁰ to 10¹² ions/cm². The observed changes in optical energy gap of this polymer have been investigated and results are tried to be explained in terms of energy transferred by the incident ions. It has been noticed that the value of optical energy gap decreases with increasing energy loss during the ion–polymer interaction process.     

PLE spectra analysis of the sub-structure in the absorption spectra of CdSeS quantum dots

The semiconductor CdSeS quantum dots (QDs) embedded in glass are analysed by means of absorption spectra, photoluminescence (PL) spectra and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra. The peaks of absorption spectra shift to lower energies with the size of QD increasing, which obviously shows a quantum-size effect. Using the PLE spectra, the physical origin of the lowest absorption peak is analysed. In PLE spectra, the lowest absorption peak can be deconvoluted into two peaks that stem from the transitions of 1S_3/2--1S_e and 2S_3/2--1S_e respectively. The measured energy difference between the two peaks is found to decrease with the size of QD increasing, which agrees well with the theoretical calculation for the two transitions. The luminescence peak of defect states is also analysed by PLE spectra. Two transitions are present in the PLE, which indicates that the transitions of 1S_3/2--1S_e and 2S_3/2--1S_e are responsible for the defect states luminescence.     

Impact parameter dependence of electronic energy loss

Energy-loss moments of the electronic energy loss are calculated as functions of impact parameter for protons of 1 to 7 MeV incident upon Be, Al, Cu, Ag, and Ta targets. The Lindhard dielectric-function formalism is used, in the local-density approximation. The target-atom electron densities are Lenz-Jensen, and the projectile is a point charge. The moments are fitted by a simple algebraic function, and the energy and Z₂ dependence of the parameters of this function are given.