Field ion microscopy of radiation damage on an atomically clean surface of materials

Abstract

The defects induced by neutrons (E >0.1 MeV) and Ar+ beams (E = 30 KeV) on the atomically pure surface and in the near-surface volume of platinum were studied using field ion microscopy. Experimental results of radiation defect formation in surface layers of materials initiated by neutron bombardment (Pt, E > 0.1 MeV) and ion implantation (in Cu3Au: E = 40 keV, F = 1020 ion/m2, j = 10~3 A/cm2) are considered. Quantitative estimates of the size, shape, and volume fraction of atomic displacement cascades formed during various types of irradiation in these materials are obtained. It is shown that the average size of radiation clusters after irradiation of platinum with a fast neutron fluence of 6.7« 1022 m-2 (E > 0.1 MeV) is about 3.2 nm. The experimentally established average size of a radiation cluster (disordered zone) in an alloy after ion bombardment is 4 • 4 • 1,5 nm. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.