An in situ transmission electron microscopy study of the ion irradiation induced amorphisation of silicon by He and Xe

Transmission electron microscopy with in situ ion irradiation has been used to examine the ionbeam-induced amorphisation of crystalline silicon under irradiation with light (He) and heavy (Xe) ions at room temperature. Analysis of the electron diffraction data reveal the heterogeneous amorphisation mechanism to be dominant in both cases. The differences in the amorphisation curves are discussed in terms of intra-cascade dynamic recovery, and the role of electronic and nuclear loss mechanisms

Sputtering yields exceeding 1000 by 80keV Xe irradiation of Au nanorods

Using experiments and computer simulations, we find that 80 keV Xe ion irradiation of Au nanorods can produce sputtering yields exceeding 1000, which to our knowledge are the highest yields reported for sputtering by single ions in the nuclear collision regime. This value is enhanced by more than an order of magnitude compared to the same irradiation of flat Au surfaces. Using MD simulations, we show that the very high yield can be understood as a combination of enhanced yields due to low incoming angles at the sides of the nanowire, as well as the high surface-to-volume ratio causing enhanced explosive sputtering from heat spikes. We also find, both in experiments and simulations, that channeling has a strong effect on the sputtering yield: if the incoming beam happens to be aligned with a crystal axis of the nanorod, the yield can decrease to about 100

Helium bubble formation in ultrafine and nanocrystalline tungsten under different extreme conditions

We have investigated the effects of helium ion irradiation energy and sample temperature on the performance of grain boundaries as helium sinks in ultrafine grained and nanocrystalline tungsten. Irradiations were performed at displacement and non-displacement energies and at temperatures above and below that required for vacancy migration. Microstructural investigations were performed using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) combined with either in-situ or ex-situ ion irradiation. Under helium irradiation at an energy which does not cause atomic displacements in tungsten (70 eV), regardless of temperature and thus vacancy migration conditions, bubbles were uniformly distributed with no preferential bubble formation on grain boundaries. At energies that can cause displacements, bubbles were observed to be preferentially formed on the grain boundaries only at high temperatures where vacancy migration occurs. Under these conditions, the decoration of grain boundaries with large facetted bubbles occurred on nanocrystalline grains with dimensions less than 60 nm. We discuss the importance of vacancy supply and the formation and migration of radiation-induced defects on the performance of grain boundaries as helium sinks and the resulting irradiation tolerance of ultrafine grained and nanocrystalline tungsten to bubble formatio

Effect of He implantation on the microstructure of zircaloy-4 studied using in situ TEM

Highlights • Differences in the evolution of α and βZr microstructures under 6 keV He ion implantation have been analysed as a function of irradiation dose and temperature using in situ TEM. • Both thermal and irradiation stabilities of Zr hydrides particles were studied and were found to dissolve with increasing fluence. • It is suggested that the combination of two different mass-transport mechanisms for He in zircaloy-4 play a major rule in the Zr hydride irradiation-induced dissolution. • He bubble lattices were observed to form during irradiation at 473 K and 1148 K in both crystalline phases, α and βZr, at around the same fluence of 1.7×10^17 ions⋅cm−2 (3.2 dpa)

Images of interlayer Josephson vortices in single-layer cuprates

The interlayer penetration depth in layered superconductors may be determined from scanning Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) microscope images of interlayer Josephson vortices. The authors compare their findings at 4 K for single crystals of the organic superconductor {kappa}-(BEDT-TTF){sub 2}Cu(NCS){sub 2} and three near-optimally doped cuprate superconductors: La{sub 2{minus}x}Sr{sub x}CuO{sub 4}, (Hg, Cu)Ba{sub 2}CuO{sub 4+{delta}}, and Tl{sub 2}Ba{sub 2}CuO{sub 6+{delta}}