Structural damage on single-crystal diamond by swift heavy ion irradiation

•We show experimental evidence of diamond amorphization under irradiation with SHI.•No thresholding is observed for electronic stopping powers up to 14 keV/nm.•RBS-c measurements confirm the hypothesis of a nuclear damage-induced process.

Experimental evidence of synthetic single-crystal diamond amorphization under the effect of irradiation with swift heavy ions is shown. The type of sharp thresholding behavior that characterizes electronic damage is not observed within a range of electronic stopping power covering up to 14 keV/nm. Amorphization is assessed by Rutherford Back Scattering Channeling (RBS-c) measurements done with light ions, after swift heavy ion irradiation. Results are analyzed and discussed in order to confirm the hypothesis of a nuclear damage-induced process, whereby it is concluded that electronic effects are not relevant in the studied range of stopping powers. The evolution of the amorphized fraction as a function of the irradiated fluence and nuclear stopping power is measured and discussed as well.

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