200 keV Xe+ ions irradiation effects on Zr–Ti binary films

200 keV Xenon irradiation experiments were performed on magnetron sputtered Zr–Ti films under different doses up to 9 * 1015 ions/cm2. XRD, FE-SEM, AFM, HRTEM, nano-indentation and white light interferometer characterizations were applied to study the structural and mechanical properties modification introduced by the bombardment. Upon Xenon irradiation, structure of film matrix kept stable while the crystallinity of the top surface degraded significantly. Meanwhile, properties of irradiated films such as hardness, modulus and sheet resistance evolved with the same tendency, i.e. increased firstly and decrease with further increasing the irradiation dose. By selective area irradiation, competition between the surface sputtering and swelling was revealed, by which surface defects evolution was highlighted. The micro-defects evolution during Xenon irradiation was believed to be responsible for the macro-properties’ modification.