In-cascade ionization effects on defect production in 3C silicon carbide

• Main Authors: Haizhou Xue, Yanwen Zhang, William J. Weber
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2017-11-01
• Series: Materials Research Letters
• Subjects: Ionization; energy deposition and dissipation; defect dynamics and recovery process; damage accumulation; silicon carbide
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21663831.2017.1334241

Understanding how energy deposited in electronic and atomic subsystems may affect defect dynamics is a long-standing fundamental challenge in materials research. The coupling of displacement cascades and in-cascade ionization-induced annealing are investigated in silicon carbide (SiC). A delayed damage accumulation under ion irradiation is revealed with a linear dependence as a function of both increasing ionization and increasing ratio of electronic to nuclear energy deposition. An in-cascade healing mechanism is suggested with a low threshold value of electronic energy loss (∼1.0 keV nm−1). The in-cascade ionization effects must be considered in predicting radiation performance of SiC.