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Rethinking radiation effects in materials science using the plasma-focused ion beam

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Abstract

This work demonstrates the viability of using a plasma-focused ion beam (PFIB) as a new platform to carry out radiation effects studies in solids. While materials subjected to irradiation in either nuclear reactors or energetic particle accelerators experience limitations with respect to inaccuracies in both flux measurements and lack of precise control of irradiation areas, we demonstrate a new irradiation technique that allows the exposure of a single specimen in multiple areas, at multiple doses, and in site-specific dependencies - all with flux variations on the order of only 1%. This versatile technique also allows materials to be exposed to significantly higher irradiation dose rates than conventional accelerators. To validate the new methodology, we selected the classical example of ion-beam-induced amorphization of pure single-crystal Si. By pioneering the use of the PFIB for radiation effects studies in materials science, we were able to exploit, in both micro- and nanometer-sized detail, the differences in electron image contrast arising from crystalline versus amorphous solid-state phases in classical semiconductors subjected to irradiation, thus providing new insights on amorphization mechanisms. This methodology opens new research frontiers at the fringe of materials science with promising applications beyond the scope of materials at extremes such as in nanopatterning, nanodevices and nanoarchitectonics.

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Data availability

All the data necessary to interpret the results presented in this research are in the main manuscript. Further data are available upon request.

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Acknowledgments

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) - managed by Triad National Security LCC for the United States Department of Energy’s (U.S. DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) - provided research support to MAT via the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program under project number 20200689PRD2. This work has been carried out at the Electron Microscopy Laboratory at LANL. MAT is particularly grateful to all staff members of the Hydride and Fuels Research Laboratories at LANL for receiving him as a co-worker with patience and kindness. MAT would like to thank Professor Sjoerd Roorda (University of Montreal) for assistance with previous literature review on amorphization of Si under ion irradiation and implantation.

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  1. Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, USA

    M. A. Tunes, M. M. Schneider, C. A. Taylor & T. A. Saleh

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  1. M. A. Tunes
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Tunes, M.A., Schneider, M.M., Taylor, C.A. et al. Rethinking radiation effects in materials science using the plasma-focused ion beam. J Mater Sci 57, 16795–16808 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-07667-x

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