GaN is the most promising upgrade to the traditional Si-based radiation-hard technologies. However, the underlying mechanisms driving its resistance are unclear, especially for strongly ionising radiation. Here, we use swift heavy ions to show that a strong recrystallisation effect induced by the ions is the key mechanism behind the observed resistance. We use atomistic simulations to examine and predict the damage evolution. These show that the recrystallisation lowers the expected damage levels significantly and has strong implications when studying high fluences for which numerous overlaps occur. Moreover, the simulations reveal structures such as point and extended defects, density gradients and voids with excellent agreement between simulation and experiment. We expect that the developed modelling scheme will contribute to improving the design and test of future radiation-resistant GaN-based devices.

We examine swift heavy ion-induced defect production in suspended single layer graphene using Raman spectroscopy and a two temperature molecular dynamics model that couples the ionic and electronic subsystems. We show that an increase in the electronic stopping power of the ion results in an increase in the size of the pore-type defects, with a defect formation threshold at 1.22-1.48 keV/layer. We also report calculations of the specific electronic heat capacity of graphene with different chemical potentials and discuss the electronic thermal conductivity of graphene at high electronic temperatures, suggesting a value in the range of 1 Wm −1 K −1. These results indicate that swift heavy ions can create nanopores in graphene, and that their size can be tuned between 1-4 nm diameter by choosing a suitable stopping power.

The cylindrical nanoscale density variations resulting from the interaction of 185 MeV and 2.2 GeV Au ions with 1.0 μm thick amorphous SiN :H and SiO :H layers are determined using small angle x-ray scattering measurements. The resulting density profiles resembles an under-dense core surrounded by an over-dense shell with a smooth transition between the two regions, consistent with molecular-dynamics simulations. For amorphous SiN :H, the density variations show a radius of 4.2 nm with a relative density change three times larger than the value determined for amorphous SiO :H, with a radius of 5.5 nm. Complementary infrared spectroscopy measurements exhibit a damage cross-section comparable to the core dimensions. The morphology of the density variations results from freezing in the local viscous flow arising from the non-uniform temperature profile in the radial direction of the ion path. The concomitant drop in viscosity mediated by the thermal conductivity appears to be the main driving force rather than the presence of a density anomaly.

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When a swift heavy ion (SHI) penetrates amorphous SiO 2 , a core/shell (C/S) ion track is formed, which consists of a lower-density core and a higher-density shell. According to the conventional inelastic thermal spike (iTS) model represented by a pair of coupled heat equations, the C/S tracks are believed to form via "vaporization" and melting of the SiO 2 induced by SHI (V-M model). However, the model does not describe what the vaporization in confined ion-track geometry with a condensed matter density is. Here we reexamine this hypothesis. While the total and core radii of the C/S tracks determined by small angle x-ray scattering are in good agreement with the vaporization and melting radii calculated from the conventional iTS model under high electronic stopping power (S e) irradiations (>10 keV/nm), the deviations between them are evident at lowS e irradiation (3-5 keV/nm). Even though the iTS calculations exclude the vaporization of SiO 2 at the low S e , both the formation of the C/S tracks and the ion shaping of nanoparticles (NPs) are experimentally confirmed, indicating the inconsistency with the V-M model. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based on the two-temperature model, which is an atomic-level modeling extension of the conventional iTS, clarified that the "vaporlike" phase exists at S e ∼ 5 keV/nm or higher as a nonequilibrium phase where atoms have higher kinetic energies than the vaporization energy, but are confined at a nearly condensed matter density. Simultaneously, the simulations indicate that the vaporization is not induced under 50-MeV Si irradiation (S e ∼ 3 keV/nm), but the C/S tracks and the ion shaping of nanoparticles are nevertheless induced. Even though the final density variations in the C/S tracks are very small at the low stopping power values (both in the simulations and experiments), the MD simulations show that the ion shaping can be explained by flow of liquid metal from the NP into the transient low-density phase of the track core during the first ∼10 ps after the ion impact. The ion shaping correlates with the recovery process of the silica matrix after emitting a pressure wave. Thus, the vaporization is not a prerequisite for the C/S tracks and the ion shaping.

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The mechanism of the shape elongation of metal nanoparticles (NPs) in amorphous silica, which is induced under swift heavy ion irradiation, is discussed. Since the discovery of this phenomenon, several mechanisms were proposed and debated. Now, only two major mechanisms have survived: (i) the synergy model between the ion hammering and the transient melting of NPs by the inelastic thermal spike, and (ii) the thermal pressure and flow model. Here, we discuss that three experimental results are inconsistent with (i). The latter is supported by two-temperature molecular dynamics simulations (TT-MD), which simulate not only the atomic motions but also the local electron temperatures. While a remarkable correlation was observed between the temporal evolution of the silica density around the ion trajectory and that of the aspect ratio of the NP later than ~1 ps after the ion impact, no correlation was observed earlier than ~1 ps. Since the silica has a much higher electronlattice (e-L) coupling than the metal NP, the lattice temperature quickly increases up to remarkably high values, which results in quick and large expansion and recovery in silica. By contrast, metal NPs have low e-L coupling, which results in slow temperature change. The NP remains in a solid state in the period where silica experiences the quick expansion, and only melts and deforms when the silica is already in the recovery stage. The large difference of the temperature evolution between silica and metal NPs is the origin of the shape elongation.

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