Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1685956 | Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms | 2007 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
We have examined cosmic ray interactions with silicate dust grains by simulating a thermal spike in a 1.25 million atom forsterite (Mg2SiO4) crystal with periodic boundaries. Spikes were generated by giving a kinetic energy of 1 or 2Â eV to every atom within a cylinder of radius 1.73Â nm along the [0Â 0Â 1] direction. An amorphous track of radius â¼3Â nm was produced for the 2Â eV/atom case, but practically no amorphization was produced for 1Â eV/atom because of effective dynamic annealing. Chemical segregation was not observed in the track. These results agree with recent experimental studies of ion irradiation effects in silicates, and indicate that cosmic rays can cause the amorphization of interstellar dust.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Materials Science
Surfaces, Coatings and Films
Authors
R. Devanathan, P. Durham, J. Du, L.R. Corrales, E.M. Bringa,