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

J.H. O'Connella, V.A. Skuratovb, A. Janse van Vuurena, R.A. Rymzhanovb aCentre for HRTEM, Nelson Mandela University, P.O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa bFlerov Laboratory for Nuclear Research, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Joliot-Curie 6, 141980 Dubna, Moscow region, Russia

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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.

DOI:10.12693/APhysPolA.136.233 PACS numbers: 60.80.-x, 61.80.Az