Swift heavy ion track formation in SiC films under high-temperature irradiation
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation at temperatures below ∼1000 K does not damage bulk SiC crystals larger than 100 nm. On the other hand, the effect of the thickness of SiC films on the formation and structure of SHI tracks over a wide range of irradiation temperatures remains unexplored. To address this gap, we used a model sensitive to irradiation temperature that describes all stages of ion track formation: from material excitation, considering the emission of excited electrons from the film surface (MC code TREKIS-3), to the reaction of the material's atomic system to the excitation (classical molecular dynamics). We observed the appearance of two different types of nanostructures on the surface of SiC films with thicknesses ranging from 10 nm to 100 nm after impacts of 710 MeV Bi ions: craters and hillocks. The transition from hillocks to craters occurs with the irradiation temperature. The transition temperature increases with the film thickness, tending to T t r c r ≈1534 ± 100 K for the surface of bulk SiC irradiated with 710 MeV Bi ions: hillocks appear below T t r c r , whereas craters growth at higher temperatures.
Source: Vacuum
Authors: D.I. Zainutdinov, A.E. Volkov
Language: English
Subfield: Computational Mechanics
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,860
OpenAlex ID: W4417429517
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