Overview of SHI Induced Track Morphology in Crystalline Non-Metals from Direct Observation with TEM

Abstract

We studied the track morphology of 167 MeV Xe ion irradiated amorphizable and non-amorphizable single crystals, in the non-overlapping track regime, by direct observation with transmission electron microscopy. Simulation of the early stages of the interaction shows transient melting for all materials while the interaction of closely spaced tracks that do not overlap was found to increase with a material's resistance to track formation. This lead to track density saturation and delayed amorphization of the bulk crystal. We propose a structure dependent recrystallisation rate as the main factor determining the size and morphology of ion tracks.

Evaluation of threshold conditions for latent track formation in nanocrystalline Y2Ti2O7

“…It allows to reliably register them using various techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The latter should be highlighted as the only direct experimental method [10][11][12]. However, the observation of ion tracks in nanocrystalline materials can be hindered by different orientations of crystallites and/or by the background matrix influence, as typical, for example, for dielectric nanoparticles in oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys.…”