Swift heavy ion tracks in nanocrystalline Y4Al2O9

• Published in: Nuclear materials and energy Vol. 30; p. 101106
• Main Authors: Ibrayeva, Anel, Mutali, Alisher, O'Connell, Jacques, van Vuuren, Arno Janse, Korneeva, Ekaterina, Sohatsky, Alexander, Rymzhanov, Ruslan, Skuratov, Vladimir, Alekseeva, Liudmila, Ivanov, Igor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Ion tracks; Nanoparticles; Swift heavy ions; Transmission electron microscopy; Nanoparticles; Swift heavy ions; Transmission electron microscopy; Ion tracks; SHI; TEM
• ISSN: 2352-1791; 2352-1791
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nme.2021.101106

•For the first time swift heavy ion tracks were imaged in nano-Y4Al2O9 by TEM means.•Ion track radii vs specific ionizing energy losses R(Se) was determined..•Set values were found as ∼6 and ∼8 keV/nm for discontinuous and continuous tracks. We report the first results of a TEM study of structural changes induced by high energy xenon and bismuth ions in Y4Al2O9 nanoparticles (10 to 100 nm grain size) in the range of electronic stopping powers 6 ÷ 35 keV/nm. It was found that swift Xe an Bi ion irradiation, starting from threshold energy loss ∼ 8 keV/nm, leads to the formation of continuous amorphous latent tracks, while discontinuous tracks are observed at ∼ 6 keV/nm. No effect of grain size on the ion track parameters was observed for all specific ionizing energy losses used in experiments.