Morphology and annealing kinetics of ion tracks in minerals

Abstract

Abstract. We have studied the morphology and annealing kinetics of ion tracks in Durango apatite using synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering. The non-destructive, artefact-free technique enables us to determine the track radii with a resolution of fractions of a nanometre. The tracks were generated using different heavy ions with energies between 185 MeV and 2.6 GeV. The track morphology is consistent with the formation of long cylindrical amorphous tracks. The annealing kinetics, measured by SAXS in combination with ex situ and in situ annealing experiments, suggests structural relaxation followed by recrystallisation of the damaged material. The measurement methodology shown here provides a new means for in-depth studies of ion-track formation in minerals under a wide variety of geological conditions.

SAXS study on the morphology of etched and un-etched ion tracks in apatite

“…The strong oscillating scattering intensities yield information about the track radii and indicate monodisperse tracks with a sharp density change between the tracks and matrix material [3,4,11]. As reported in previous studies [3,4,6,12], the most suitable model that fits the scattering intensity from ion tracks in Durango apatite is a cylinder model with a constant density. The solid lines in figure 2 represent the analytical fits to this model.…”