Damage production in carbide single crystals irradiated with MeV heavy ions

Carbide (SiC, TiC, and ZrC) single crystals were irradiated at room temperature with MeV Au ions. The damage created by irradiation was evaluated by RBS-C, XRD, and Raman experiments. The results indicate a different radiation behavior of TiC and ZrC as compared with SiC. The accumulation of defects created by nuclear collisions leads to amorphization of SiC at the lowest Au fluence used (2.8 × 1014 cm−2), whereas TiC and ZrC do not amorphize at the highest Au fluence used (3.3 × 1015 cm−2). The different properties of TiC and ZrC carbides versus SiC could be related to differences in the nature of the chemical bonds in TiC and ZrC versus SiC.