Proton-induced nanorod melting in a coating obtained from the pulsed laser ablation of W2B5/B4C

Coatings obtained from pulsed laser ablated W2B5/B4C were irradiated with 900keV protons at fluences ranging from about 1×1015protons/cm2 to about 4×1015protons/cm2. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) were used to study the resulting structural effects. Clusters of nanorods were observed to disperse and reduce in number with increase in proton fluence. The atomic percentage of constituent elements were observed to vary with proton fluence, both within the nanorods and the film floor. Our results show that the structural effect of proton irradiation on the coating is lateral dispersion of matter.