Response of strontium titanate to ion and electron irradiation

The response of strontium titanate (SrTiO3) to ion and electron irradiation is studied at room temperature. For an accurate energy to depth conversion and a better determination of ion-induced disorder profile from Rutherford backscattering spectrometry measurement, a detailed iterative procedure is described and applied to ion channeling spectra to determine the dechanneling yield and the disorder profiles for the Sr and Ti sublattices. The result shows a large underestimation in disorder depth, ∼40% at the damage peak, which indicates a large overestimation of the electronic stopping power for 1.0 MeV Au ions in SrTiO3 predicted by the SRIM (Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter) code. Overestimation of heavy ion stopping power may lead to an overestimation of the critical dose for amorphization. The current study also demonstrates possible ionization effects in SrTiO3 under ion and electron irradiation. Pre-amorphized SrTiO3 exhibits strong ionization-induced epitaxial recovery at the amorphous/crystalline interface under electron irradiation.