Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8040938 | Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms | 2015 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
In this study thin Zr films (135Â nm) were deposited on 6H-SiC substrate at room temperature by sputter deposition. The Zr/SiC couples were irradiated by 167Â MeV Xe26+ ions at room temperature at fluences of 5.0Â ÃÂ 1012, 1.0Â ÃÂ 1013, 5.0Â ÃÂ 1013, 2.0Â ÃÂ 1014, 3.1Â ÃÂ 1014 and 6.3Â ÃÂ 1014Â ions/cm2. The samples were analysed before and after irradiation using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and secondary electron microscopy (SEM). The surface morphology from SEM analysis revealed a homogeneous Zr surface which did not vary with increasing fluences of irradiation. AFM analysis revealed that the Rrms surface roughness did increase from the as-deposited value of 1.6Â nm and then decrease at higher SHI irradiation fluences to 1.4Â nm. RBS results indicate that interface mixing between Zr and SiC interface occurred and varied linearly with irradiation ion fluence. The value obtained for diffusivity of Zr shows that the mixing was due to interdiffusion across the interface during a transient melt phase according to the thermal spike model.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Materials Science
Surfaces, Coatings and Films
Authors
E.G. Njoroge, C.C. Theron, J.B. Malherbe, N.G. van der Berg, T.T. Hlatshwayo, V.A. Skuratov,