Response of nanocrystalline $3C$ silicon carbide to heavy-ion irradiation

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Response of nanocrystalline $3 C$ silicon carbide to heavy-ion irradiation

W. Jiang, H. Wang, I. Kim, I.-T. Bae, G. Li, P. Nachimuthu, Z. Zhu, Y. Zhang, and W. J. Weber

Phys. Rev. B 80, 161301(R) – Published 9 October 2009

Abstract

Nanostructured materials are generally believed to be more radiation resistant. This study reports on Au-ion-induced amorphization in nanocrystalline $3 C -SiC$ , characterized using x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Full amorphization at room temperature occurs at a comparable dose to that for bulk SiC single crystals. The behavior is primarily attributed to a high ion flux and sluggish migration of point defects produced during irradiation. The results may have a significant implication of using nanophased SiC in extremely high radiation environments.

Received 3 August 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.80.161301

Authors & Affiliations

W. Jiang^1,*, H. Wang², I. Kim², I.-T. Bae³, G. Li¹, P. Nachimuthu¹, Z. Zhu¹, Y. Zhang¹, and W. J. Weber¹

¹Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
²Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA
³State University of New York at Binghamton, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, New York 13902, USA

^*Corresponding author; weilin.jiang@pnl.gov

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Issue

Vol. 80, Iss. 16 — 15 October 2009

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Physical Review B

covering condensed matter and materials physics