Size modification of Au nanoparticles induced by slow highly charged ions Ar-40(q+) irradiation

Size modification of Au nanoparticles (NPs), deposited on the Au-thick film surface and irradiated by slow highly charged ions (SHCI) 40Arq+ (3 6 q 6 12) with fixed low dose of 4.3 1011 ions/cm2 and various energy ranging from 74.64 to 290.64 keV at room temperature (293.15 K), was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effect of projectile kinetic energy on the modified size of NPs was explored by an appropriate choice of the fixed process parameters such as ion flux, irradiation temperature, incident angle, irradiation time, etc. The morphological changes of NPs were interpreted by models involving collisional mixing, Ostwald ripening (OR) and inverse Ostwald ripening (IOR) of spherical NPs on a substrate. A critical kinetic energy as well as a critical potential energy of the projectile in the Au NPs size modification process were observed.

Modification of Fe/Cu Multilayers under 2-MeV Xe20+ Irradiation

Multilayers with a structure of Si/[Fe(10 nm)/CU(10 nm)](5) were deposited on Si(100) substrates and then irradiated at room temperature by using 2-MeV Xe20+. The modifications of the multilayers were characterized using a depth profile analysis of the Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) data and the evolution of crystallite structures of the multilayers were analyzed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The AES depth profiles indicated that de-mixing of the Fe and the Cu layers was observed at low ion fluences, but inter-mixing of the Fe and the Cu layers was found at high ion fluences and destroyed the layered structure of the multilayers. The obtained XRD patterns showed that, after irradiation by 2-MeV Xe20+ at; 2 x 10(16) ions/cm(2), the peaks of the multilayers related to a Cu-based fee solid solution and an Fe-based bee solid solution phase became visible, which implied that the inter-mixing at the Fe/Cu interface resulted in the formation of new phases. A possible mechanism of modification in the Fe/Cu multilayers induced by ion irradiation is briefly discussed.

Modification of C-doped a-SiO2 after Swift Heavy-Ion Irradiation

Amorphous SiO2 (a-SiO2) thin films were thermally grown on single-crystalline silicon. These a-SiO2/Si samples were first implanted (C-doped) with 100-keV carbon ion at room temperature (RT) at a dose of 5.0 x 10(17) C-ions/cm(2) and were then irradiated at RT by using 853 MeV Pb ions at closes of 5.0 x 10(11), 1.0 x 10(12), 2.0 x 10(12) and 5.0 x 10(12) Pb-ions/cm(2), respectively. The microstructures and the photoluminescence (PL) properties of these samples induced by Pb ions were investigated using fluorescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. We found that high-energy Pb-ion irradiation could induce the formation of a new phase and a change in the PL property of C-doped a-SiO2/Si samples. The relationship between the observed phenomena and the ion irradiation parameters is briefly discussed.