Interplay between atomic disorder, lattice swelling, and defect energy in ion-irradiation-induced amorphization of SiC

A. Debelle, A. Boulle, A. Chartier, F. Gao, and W. J. Weber
Phys. Rev. B 90, 174112 – Published 25 November 2014

Abstract

A combination of experimental and computational evaluations of disorder level and lattice swelling in ion-irradiated materials is presented. Information obtained from x-ray diffraction experiments is compared to x-ray diffraction data generated using atomic-scale simulations. The proposed methodology, which can be applied to a wide range of crystalline materials, is used to study the amorphization process in irradiated SiC. Results show that this process can be divided into two steps. In the first step, point defects and small defect clusters are produced and generate both large lattice swelling and high elastic energy. In the second step, enhanced coalescence of defects and defect clusters occurs to limit this increase in energy, which rapidly leads to complete amorphization.

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  • Received 30 May 2014
  • Revised 13 November 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.174112

©2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

A. Debelle1,*, A. Boulle2, A. Chartier3, F. Gao4, and W. J. Weber5,6

  • 1Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS/IN2P3, 91405 Orsay, France
  • 2Science des Procédés Céramiques et Traitements de Surface, CNRS UMR 7315, Centre Européen de la Céramique, 12 rue Atlantis, 87068 Limoges Cedex, France
  • 3CEA, DEN, DPC, SCCME, 91191 Gif-Sur-Yvette, France
  • 4Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
  • 5Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
  • 6Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA

  • *Corresponding author: aurelien.debelle@u-psud.fr

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Issue

Vol. 90, Iss. 17 — 1 November 2014

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