Microstructural Effects of Al Doping on Si3N4 Irradiated with Swift Heavy Ions

A. Janse van Vuurena, V. Skuratovb, A. Ibrayevac, M. Zdorovetsc aCentre for HRTEM, Nelson Mandela University, University Way, Summerstrand, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa bFlerov Laboratory for Nuclear Research, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Joliot-Curie 6, Dubna, 141980, Moscow region, Russia cThe Institute of Nuclear Physics, 1 Ibragimova Str., Almaty, 050032, Republic of Kazakhstan

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Transmission electron microscopy techniques were used to investigate the effect of swift xenon ions on the microstructure of polycrystalline Al doped β-Si3N4. The target material was irradiated with Xe with energies between 167 and 220 MeV with initial stopping powers of 20 and 22 keV/nm, respectively. The fluences ranged between 3×1011 to 6×1014 cm-2 and irradiation was done at room temperature. The formation of discontinuous latent ion tracks was observed in all samples. The threshold stopping power for track formation in Al doped β-Si3N4 was determined to be approximately 8.9 keV/nm and the threshold fluence for amorphisation due to electronic stopping in the range between 1×1013 and 2×1014 cm-2 at a threshold stopping power of between 6.8 and 8.1 keV/nm. It was also found that the doping of β-Si3N4 with Al lowers the threshold for amorphisation as compared to pure β-Si3N4.

DOI:10.12693/APhysPolA.136.241 PACS numbers: 01.30.Cc, 07.78.+s, 61.80.Jh, 61.82.Fk