Swift heavy ion track formation in Gd₂Zr_2-x Ti_xO₇ pyrochlore: Effect of electronic energy loss

Journal Article · Wed Jul 23 04:00:00 EDT 2014 · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2014.06.019· OSTI ID:1385686

Lang, Maik; Toulemonde, Marcel; Zhang, Jiaming; Zhang, Fuxiang; Tracy, Cameron L.; Lian, Jie; Wang, Zhongwu; Weber, William J.; Severin, Daniel; Bender, Markus; Trautmann, Christina; Ewing, Rodney C.

The morphology of swift heavy ion tracks in the Gd₂Zr_2-x Ti_xO₇ pyrochlore system has been investigated as a function of the variation in chemical composition and electronic energy loss, dE/dx, over a range of energetic ions: ⁵⁸Ni, ¹⁰¹Ru, ¹²⁹Xe, ¹⁸¹Ta, ¹⁹⁷Au, ²⁰⁸Pb, and ²³⁸U of 11.1 MeV/u specific energy. Bright-field transmission electron microscopy, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy reveal an increasing degree of amorphization with increasing Ti-content and dE/dx. The size and morphology of individual ion tracks in Gd₂Ti₂O₇ were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealing a core–shell structure with an outer defect-fluorite dominated shell at low dE/dx to predominantly amorphous tracks at high dE/dx. Inelastic thermal-spike calculations have been used together with atomic-scale characterization of ion tracks in Gd₂Ti₂O₇ by high resolution transmission electron microscopy to deduce critical energy densities for the complex core–shell morphologies induced by ions of different dE/dx.

• Research Organization: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Materials Science of Actinides (MSA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0001089
• OSTI ID: 1385686
• Journal Information: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Journal Name: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms Journal Issue: C Vol. 336; ISSN 0168-583X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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