SummaryWe report the synthesis of Pt nanoparticles and their burrowing into silicon upon irradiation of a Pt–Si thin film with medium-energy neon ions at constant fluence (1.0 × 1017 ions/cm2). Several values of medium-energy neon ions were chosen in order to vary the ratio of the electronic energy loss to the nuclear energy loss (S e/S n) from 1 to 10. The irradiated films were characterized using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). A TEM image of a cross section of the film irradiated with S e/S n = 1 shows ≈5 nm Pt NPs were buried up to ≈240 nm into the silicon. No silicide phase was detected in the XRD pattern of the film irradiated at the highest value of S e/S n. The synergistic effect of the energy losses of the ion beam (molten zones are produced by S e, and sputtering and local defects are produced by S n) leading to the synthesis and burrowing of Pt NPs is evidenced. The Pt NP synthesis mechanism and their burrowing into the silicon is discussed in detail.

The effect of the primary knock-on atom (PKA) spectrum in radiation damage and the subsequent defect structure formation and their impact in deuterium (D) trapping has been investigated using computer simulations and surrogate ion irradiation experiments. The neutron spectrum for an 'ITER-like' divertor shape and parameters has been generated using ATTILA and SPECTER codes to identify the relevant PKA energies. It has been observed that 10 MeV boron (B) produces a PKA spectrum similar to that obtained from a reactor-like neutron spectrum. Experiments have been carried out with ions of gold (Au), B, helium (He) and D with energies ranging from 0.1 MeV-80 MeV for a fluence range of 1.3 × 10 18 ions m −2 -5 × 10 21 ions m −2 , and distinctly different PKA spectra have been produced. While 80 MeV Au ions produced dense and small clusters of interstitial defects (<10 nm), B produced large dislocation loops up to 60 nm in size. At room temperature, the imprint of the cascade is well captured by the vacancies due to their low mobility, and the vacancy defects observed in Au and B irradiation showed significant differences. Molecular dynamics simulations show that at PKA energies exceeding 150 keV, the fragmentation of the cascades takes place, which tends to limit the size of individual defects in the case of 80 MeV Au irradiation. A mechanism based on the competitive capture of mobile interstitials has been proposed to explain the observed large dislocation loops as well as dislocation lines in different irradiation experiments.

Pure and oxygen-mixed xenon plasmas were produced using 10 GHz all-permanent-magnet electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source. The charge state distributions (CSDs) of highly abundant isotopes ( 129 Xe, 131 Xe and 132 Xe) were studied by extracting the ions from the plasma and analyzed them in mass and energy using a large acceptance analyzer-switching dipole magnet. In earlier studies (Drentje 1992 Rev. Sci. Instrum. 63 2875, Kawai et al 2001 Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 10 451), the CSD of oxygen and nitrogen ECR plasmas showed that isotopic intensity ratio of ions varies with the charge state (anomalous effect). The anomalous effect in the pure and oxygen-mixed xenon ECR plasma was absent up to +13 charge state. With oxygen, a very small positive gas-mixing effect on the charge state beyond +8 was observed. In this paper, we present CSDs of xenon isotopes with and without oxygen mixing (at optimized ion source parameters) and compare the intensity of isotopes for various charge states to shed light on the previously noticed anomalous effect in the ECR plasma.

Studies on the effect of the frequency tuning on the bremsstrahlung spectra, beam intensities, and beam shape of various ions have been carried out in the 10 GHz NANOGAN ECR ion source. The warm and cold components of the electrons were found to be directly correlated with beam intensity enhancement in case of Ar(9+) but not so for O(5+). The warm electron component was, however, much smaller compared to the cold component. The effect of the fine tuning of the frequency on the bremsstrahlung spectrum, beam intensities and beam shape is presented.

In context to the ion induced surface nanostructuring of metals and their burrowing in the substrates, we report the influence of Xe and Kr ion-irradiation on Pt:Si and Ag:Si thin films of~5-nm thickness. For the irradiation of thin films, several ion energies (275 and 350 keV of Kr; 450 and 700 keV of Xe) were chosen to maintain a constant ratio of the nuclear energy loss to the electronic energy loss (S n /S e ) in Pt and Ag films (five in present studies). The ion-fluence was varied from 1.0 × 10 15 to 1.0 × 10 17 ions/cm 2 . The irradiated films were characterized using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The AFM and SEM images show ion beam induced systematic surface nano-structuring of thin films. The surface nano-structures evolve with the ion fluence. The RBS spectra show fluence dependent burrowing of Pt and Ag in Si upon the irradiation of both ion beams. At highest fluence, the depth of metal burrowing in Si for all irradiation conditions remains almost constant confirming the synergistic effect of energy losses by the ion beams. The RBS analysis also shows quite large sputtering of thin films bombarded with ion beams. The sputtering yield varied from 54% to 62% by irradiating the thin films with Xe and Kr ions of chosen energies at highest ion fluence. In the paper, we present the experimental results and discuss the ion induced surface nano-structuring of Pt and Ag and their burrowing in Si.