Ion beam synthesis of Au and Cu nanoclusters in MgO

In-situ TEM Observation of Gold Nanocluster Nucleation, Coarsening and Refining in Au Implanted MgO(100) Foils

“…2, the displacement damage deposited inside the foil by the 100 keV ions (~25 dpa) is even higher than the displacement damage deposited by the 600 keV Au ions in the first 50 nm (~15 dpa). By separation of the effects by performing a separate thermal annealing and a separate heavy ion irradiation, it becomes clear that in the case of heavy ion irradiation, thermal annealing and radiation-induced annealing are competing processes respectively enhancing and inversing the growth of Au clusters.Although Au clusters form spontaneously during ion implantation at room temperature after reaching a certain threshold dose [4], implantation at elevated temperature will induce an earlier and faster growth of the clusters [12].…”

“…A feasible way of producing these clusters is by means of ion implantation and subsequent annealing [3,4]. Although there are many experimental techniques that can be applied to investigate the material properties of the composite material, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an indispensable method to obtain information on the spatial configuration, morphology and size distribution of the nanoclusters.…”

Non Equilibrium Synthesis of Improved Surface Properties by Ion Beam Assisted Deposition

“…Foster Center for Irradiation of Material at the Alabama A&M University has accumulated significant experience in ion beam analysis techniques [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Innovative methods have been developed to detect impurities in light elements [8], notably in glassy polymeric carbon [9,10,11], a material whose development has been pioneered by researchers at AAMU, and in stainless steel alloys [12].…”

“…The detection methods include nuclear detection techniques, such as Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) and Elastic Recoil Detection (ERD), as well as other surface specific analytical techniques. Many of these techniques are unique in allowing analysis of elemental content and crystalline states as a function of depth near the surface of solids and are often the only techniques that allow accurate measurements of those properties of hard coatings as well as in producing modifications of the properties of optical [16][17][18][19]21,22], polymeric [16,20] and materials for sensors [24] and medical [23] applications by ion bombardment. Adjacent laboratories at AAMU contain all the equipment necessary to accomplish conventional engineering analysis, such as hardness, tensile strength and thermal properties and to accomplish infrared optical spectroscopy.…”

Electronic structure and orientation relationship of Li nanoclusters embedded in MgO studied by depth-selective positron annihilation two-dimensional angular correlation

“…4,5 Nanoclusters embedded in inert matrices are usually produced by ion implantation and subsequent annealing. 6,7 Their size can be influenced by the selection of the type of matrix, the ion implantation fluence and energy, and the time and temperature of the annealing stage. Consequently, one can modify the electronic and optical properties of the matrix in which the nanoclusters are embedded.…”