Publication Date:
2015-10-02
Description:
Epitaxial Gd 2 O 3 thin layers with the cubic structure were irradiated with 4-MeV Au 2+ ions in the 10 13 –10 15 cm −2 fluence range. X-ray diffraction indicates that ion irradiation induces a cubic to monoclinic phase change. Strikingly, although the energy-deposition profile of the Au 2+ ions is constant over the layer thickness, this phase transformation is depth-dependent, as revealed by a combined X-ray diffraction and ion channeling analysis. In fact, the transition initiates very close to the surface and propagates inwards, which can be explained by an assisted migration process of irradiation-induced defects. This result is promising for developing a method to control the thickness of the rare-earth oxide crystalline phases.
Print ISSN:
0003-6951
Electronic ISSN:
1077-3118
Topics:
Physics
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