Simulation of radiation damage in materials under high fluence ion bombardment

The results of analytical estimations and computer simulation of a radiation damage level dpa are presented and discussed taking into account the material sputtering under ion bombardment. It is shown that the calculations of a stationary level of radiation damage are necessary for the interpretation of regularities of a radiation damage in materials under high fluence ion bombardment.     

Ion implantation induced by Cu ablation at high laser fluence

High energy laser plasma-produced Cu ions have been implanted in silicon substrates placed at different distances and angles with respect to the normal to the surface of the ablated target. The implanted samples have been produced using the iodine high power Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) using 438 nm wavelength irradiating in vacuum a Cu target. The high laser pulse energy (up to 230 J) and the short pulse duration (400 ps) produced a non-equilibrium plasma expanding mainly along the normal to the Cu target surface. Time-of-flight (TOF) technique was employed, through an electrostatic ion energy analyzer (IEA) placed along the target normal, in order to measure the ion energy, the ion charge state, the energy distribution and the charge state distribution. Ions had a Boltzmann energy distributions with an energy increasing with the charge state. At a laser fluence of the order of 6 × 10⁶ J/cm², the maximum ion energy was about 600 keV and the maximum charge state was about 27+.In order to investigate the implantation processes, Cu depth profiles have been performed with Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) of 1.5 MeV helium ions, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) with 3 keV electron beam and 1 keV Ar sputtering ions in combination with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Surface analysis results indicate that Cu ions are implanted within the first surface layers and that the ion penetration ranges are in agreement with the ion energy measured with IEA analysis.     

Anisotropic energy distribution of sputtered atoms induced by low energy heavy ion bombardment

The theory of anisotropic sputtering published in Phys. Rev. B 71(2), 026101 (2005) and Radiat. Effects Defects Solids 159(5), 301 (2004) has been modified and used to calculate the sputtering yield energy distributions for copper, tungsten, and aluminum targets bombarded by low-energy argon ion. As usual, the electronic stopping is ignored in the analysis. The present theory (modified Sigmund’s theory) has been shown to fit the corresponding experimental results of sputtering yield energy distributions well, except for the cases where the larger ion incident angle and larger sputtering emission angles were considered. The larger discrepancy between the present theory and the experimental result in the latter cases is probably due to the influence of direct recoil atoms on the energy spectrum. Compared with Falcone’s analytical theory, the present theory can reproduce much better experimental results of sputtering phenomena. The fact clearly demonstrates the intrinsic relation between the ion–energy dependence of the total sputtering yield and the sputtering yield energy distribution and suggests the great importance of momentum deposited on the target surface in the physical sputtering     

Resistance changes in thin metallic films under ion bombardment

Resistance changes in thin films of copper, aluminium and bismuth have been studied under the bombardment of nitrogen, carbon and argon ions. Variations in resistance with implantation dose have been observed upto doses of ∼ 3 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm² for ion energies in the range 40 to 120 keV. The results are discussed in terms of desorption of gases from the film and a composite action of sputter removal of the film and its structural changes upon ion bombardment. A simple theoretical model is discussed which can qualitatively explain the experimental observations.     

A reversion of atomic segregation under ion bombardment of Nix Pdy alloys

The angular distribution of atoms sputtered from Ni_xPd_y alloys (x, y=1, 5) under 3 and 10 keV Ar⁺ ion bombardment has been studied experimentally and using computer simulations. A collector technique combined with RBS to analyze the distribution of collected material was used. It was found that the Pd/Ni yield ratio increases with the polar ejection angle θ for all targets excluding NiPd₅. This peculiarity of sputtering was explained by a reversion of atomic segregation at high initial concentrations of Pd atoms in the target.     

Simulation of energy and fluence dependence of heavy ion induced displacement damage factor in bipolar junction transistor

This article presents the theoretical calculation of the variation of displacement damage factors as a function of energy and rad equivalent fluence in bipolar junction transistor for various particulate radiation viz., He, Si, Cl, Ti, Ni, Br, Ag, I, and Au. The calculation is based on the experimental data on γ-ray induced gain degradation in a commercial space borne BJT (2N3019). The method involves the calculation of γ-ray dose (rad(Si)) equivalent of effective particle fluence. The linear energy transfer (LET) in silicon for different particle radiation obtained from TRIM calculation has been used for the conversion of γ-dose into fluence of various particles. The estimation predicts a smooth increase in the displacement damage factor as the mass of the ion increases. Further, the displacement damage factor reaches a maximum at the same value of energy, which corresponds to maximum LET for all heavy ions. The maximum value of damage factor marginally decreases with increasing ion fluence for an ion of given energy. The results are compared with the data available in the literature for proton, deuteron, and helium induced displacement damage.     

The variation of defect damage with depth in molybdenum irradiated with 2MeV nitrogen ions

Transmission electron microscopy has been used to examine the damage produced in specimens of high purity molybdenum following irradiation with 2 MeV nitrogen ions in the Van de Graaff accelerator. A simple electropolishing technique was developed to allow the defect damage to be examined at different depths on a single specimen. Some results are presented here for specimens irradiated in the range 600–800°C, together with theoretical predictions of the nitrogen range and the variation of displacement damage with range, The experimental results show that the defect damage to the lattice results in a structure of dislocation loops, interstitial in nature, whose size drops with distance from the bombarded surface and whose concentration increases. Nevertheless the retained defect damage, measured by integrated loop area, agrees reasonably with the theoretical variation of displacement damage with range while the increase in loop concentration with depth coincides with the variation in ratio of nitrogen concentration to displacement damage. This latter result agrees with the hypothesis that the nucleation of damage is controlled to a large extent by the ratio of impurity atoms to displaced atoms.     

Implications of neutron spectrum and flux differences on fission-fusion correlations at high neutron fluence

Abstract

The application to fusion environments of materials data derived from fission reactors involves considerations related not only to neutron spectra but also the often dominant effect of displacement rate. It is shown in this paper that fission-fusion correlation experiments directed toward helium effects and PKA recoil spectra are frequently difficult to interpret due to the strong influences of displacement rate, low energy recoils from thermal neutron absorption and in some cases a large influence of solid transmutants. It is also shown that materials data published in earlier decades must be reevaluated in light of recent advances in defining irradiation parameters.     

Secondary ion emission from organic films under bombardment with a 32S beam at 3 MeV/A

Abstract

An experimental investigation of the secondary ion emission from organic films under heavy ion bombardment at high energies was carried out by using a time-of-flight mass spectrometer coupled to a Tandem heavy ion accelerator. Preliminary results obtained at 3 MeV/A are reported and discussed.     

Energy,fluence and temperature dependence of MeV nitrogen implantation profiles in steel

Abstract

1 to 2 MeV nitrogen (N⁺ and N₂ ⁺) ions were implanted at high fluences in stainless steel, and their depth distributions were measured subsequently by Rutherford backscattering and thermal neutron depth profiling. The range profiles were broader than theoretically expected. With increasing fluence, deviations from ballistic computer codes increase. These deviations can well be described by the assumption of radiation enhanced diffusion for which a simple analytical model is presented. The thermal mobility shows a different behavior for low, and for high implanted fluences.     

Study of neutron generation from relativistic heavy ion interactions

Study has been carried out on neutron generation in the interactions of 44 and 18 GeV ¹²C with Cu-and Pb-targets. The properties studied include, (1) Relative yields of secondary neutrons generated in 44 GeV versus in 18 GeV ¹²C bombardment to Cu target and also to Pb target. The ratios of these are 2.12±0.19 and 2.04±0.15, respectively, which is nearly in consistence with but somewhat larger than the values of theoretical calculations for Cu target. (2) Relative yields of secondary neutrons produced in Pb target versus in Cu target. The ratios obtained are 2.54±0.20 and 2.56±0.20 for 44 GeV and 18 GeV, respectively. More neutrons are generated in Pb target than in Cu target.     

Absence of voids in fast neutron irradiated zirconium by small angle neutron scattering

Abstract

The aim of this research was to resolve a difference of opinion in the literature on the presence of voids in fast neutron irradiated zirconium. There is a great interest in the study of zirconium, since zirconium and its alloys are used extensively in modern power reactors, for example in the fuel rods as a containment material for enriched uranium. A polycrystalline sample of zirconium was irradiated in the HERALD reactor at 40°C with 10²⁰ fast neutrons per cm^?2. The neutron scattering from irradiated and unirradiated standard samples was studied over a wide Q range from 0.001 to 1.12 Å^?1 on a D11 Spectrometer at the ILL (France). The defect cross-section (the difference between the scattering of the standard zirconium crystal and irradiated crystal) was nearly flat as a function of Q (momentum transfer vector) with an average value of 8.5 mb/Str/atom. This indicates a point defect concentration of about 1.8%. Thus the absence of any small angle (Q dependent) defect scattering indicates that large damage regions (e.g. voids) are not produced in zirconium by fast neutron irradiation.     

Peculiarities of heavy ion channeling

Abstract

Depth distributions of implanted Mg⁺- and Ca⁺-ions and the corresponding radiation damage were studied for different channeling orientations of silicon crystals. The shape of the implantation profiles is discussed by using simple models for dechanneling and energy loss processes. A correlation between dechanneling, damage production and depth distributions of the channeled ions could be observed. This correlation is seen by the maxima shifts in damage and implanted ion distributions between channel and random incidence.     

The effect of incidence angle on disorder production in ion implanted Si

Abstract

Ne, Ar, Sb, and Xe ions have been implanted, at 30 keV or 80 keV and at various incidence angles, into Si substrates maintained at room temperature during implantation. Implantation-induced Si disorder was measured using RBS-channelling. The effects upon disorder of various incidence angles were studied over a fluence range of 10¹²-10¹⁶ ions·cm^?2.

The results show that, at low fluences the lighter (Ne) and slightly heavier (Ar) ion implantations generate a bimodal disorder-depth profile, whilst at higher fluences measurements of amorphised layer thickness as a function of ion incidence angle allow values of the standard deviation of the disorder profile parallel and transverse to the ion beam direction for each ion to be obtained with good agreement to theoretical predictions.     

Molecular dynamic simulation of secondary ion emission from an Al sample bombarded with MeV heavy ions

Spluttering yields and kinetic energy distributions (KED) of Al atomic ions ejected from a pure aluminium sample under MeV silicon ion bombardment were simulated with the molecular dynamic method.Since the electronic energy loss Se is much higher than the nuclear energy loss Sn when the incident ion energy is as high as several MeV,the Se effect was also taken into consideration in the simulation.It was found that the simulated sputtering yield fits well with the experimental data and the electronic energy loss has a slight effect at incident ion energies higher than 4MeV.The simulated secondary ion KED spectrum is a little lower in the peak energy and narrower in the peak width than that in the experiment.     

Transverse energy dependence of neutron squeeze-out in relativistic heavy ion collisions

We present a microscopic calculation of neutronsqueeze-out in relativistic heavy ion collisions at beam energies betweeen 400 and 1000 MeV/nucleon. After demonstrating the importance of the correct isospin treatment for the neutron to proton ratio, our main emphasis is put on the investigation of the properties of neutronsqueeze-out. Thesqueeze-out ratio increases monotonously with the transverse momentum of the neutrons. This ratio is independent of the incident beam energy if plotted versusp _t /p _proj . Most importantly, we observe a strong dependence on the nuclear equation of state and momentum dependent interaction.Supported by GSI, BMFT and DFG     

Investigation of neutron deficient Zr and Nb nuclei with heavy ion induced compound reactions

³²S and¹²C induced compound reactions on Fe, Ni and Se targets have been used to produce neutron deficient nuclei in the mass region 84≦A ≦87. In-beamγ-ray spectroscopy consisting of the measurement of excitation functions,γγ coincidences andγ-ray angular distributions has been performed. The following level energies and spin-parity values have been deduced:⁸⁴Zr: 540 keV, 2⁺; 1262.8, (4⁺); 2137.2, (6⁺); 3089.2⁸⁶Zr: 751.9, 2⁺; 1666.6, (4⁺); 2670.0, (6⁺); 2705.5, (5); 3271.3; 3298.5, (8⁺); 3423.5, (7); 3531.5, (10⁺); 3645.9; 4326.1; 4417.3 Half-lives and energies ofγ-rays from the residual activities have been measured. The existence of three new isotopes could be established by their radioactive decay:⁸⁴Nb(12±3 s)→⁸⁴Zr⁸⁶Nb(80±12 s)→⁸⁶Zr⁸⁷Mo(14.6±1.5 s)→⁸⁷Nb→⁸⁷Zr     

Analysis of the fusion hindrance in mass-symmetric heavy ion reactions

The fusion hindrance,which is also denominated by the term extra-push,is studied on mass-symmetric systems by the use of the liquid drop model with the two-center parameterization.Following the idea that the fusion hindrance exists only if the liquid drop barrier(saddle point) is located at the inner side of the contact point after overcoming the outer Coulomb barrier,the reactions in which two barriers are overlapped with each other are determined.It is shown that there are many systems where the fusion hi...     

原子轰击调制离子束溅射沉积Ge量子点的生长演变

采用离子束溅射沉积的方法在Si衬底上生长Ge量子点,观察到量子点的生长随Ge原子层沉积厚度θ的增加经历了两个不同的阶段.当θ在6—10.5个单原子层(ML)范围内时,量子点的平均底宽和平均高度随θ增加同时增大,生长得到高宽比较小的圆顶形Ge量子点,伴随着量子点的生长,二维浸润层的厚度同时增大,量子点的分布密度缓慢增加;当θ在11.5一17 ML范围内时,获得高宽比较大的圆顶形Ge量子点,量子点以纵向生长为主导,二维浸润层的离解促进量子点的成核和长大,量子点的分布密度随θ的增加快速增大;量子点在θ由10.5 ML增加到11.5 ML时由一个生长阶段转变到另一个生长阶段,其分布密度同时发生6.4倍的增加.离子束溅射沉积Ge量子点的生长演变与在热平衡状态下生长的量子点不同,在量子点的不同生长阶段,其表面形貌和分布密度的变化特点是在热力学条件限制下表面原子动态演变的结果,θ的变化是引起系统自由能改变的主要因素.携带一定动能的溅射原子对生长表面的轰击促进表面原子的扩散迁移,同时压制量子点的成核,在浸润层中形成超应变状态,因而,改变体系的能量和表面原子的动力学行为,对量子点的生长起重要作用.     

Quantitative study of oxygen enhancement of sputtered ion yields. I. Argon ion bombardment of a silicon surface with O2 flood

A novel quantification approach is applied to determine in situ the amount of surface oxygen within the sputtered particle escape depth during steady-state sputter depth profiling of silicon under simultaneous oxygenation with an oxygen flood gas or with an oxygen primary ion beam. Quantification is achieved by comparing the secondary ion intensities of ¹⁶O that is adsorbed or implanted at the Si surface with the measured peak intensities of a calibrated ¹⁸O ion implant used as a reference standard. Sputtered ion yields can thereby be related to surface oxygen levels. In the present work the dependences of the partial silicon sputter yield Y and of the positive and negative secondary ion useful yields UY(X^±) (X = B, O, Al, Si, P) on the oxygen/silicon ratio, O/Si, in the sputtered flux are studied for ⁴⁰Ar⁺ bombardment of Si with simultaneous O₂ flooding. The silicon sputter yield is found to decrease with increasing flood pressure and O/Si ratio by up to a factor of 3. Both positive and negative secondary ion yields are enhanced by the presence of oxygen at the silicon surface. The useful ion yield of Si⁺ scales non-linearly with the atom fraction of surface oxygen; this behavior is shown to invalidate models that suggest that Si⁺ ion yield enhancement is dominated either by isolated oxygen atoms or by formation of SiO₂ precipitates. In contrast a microscopic statistical model that assumes that local Si⁺ ion formation depends only on the number of oxygen atoms coordinated to the Si atom to be ejected fits the ion yield data quantitatively.