Optical properties of Ar ions irradiated nanocrystalline ZrC and ZrN thin films

Abstract

Thin nanocrystalline ZrC and ZrN films (<400 nm), grown on (100) Si substrates at a substrate temperature of 500 °C by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique, were irradiated by 800 keV Ar ion irradiation with fluences from 1 × 10 14 at/cm 2 up to 2 × 10 15 at/cm 2 . Optical reflectance data, acquired from as-deposited and irradiated films, in the range of 500 -50000 cm −1 (0.06 -6 eV), was used to assess the effect of irradiation on the optical and electronic properties. Both in ZrC and ZrN films we observed that irradiation affects the optical properties of the films mostly at low frequencies, which is dominated by the free carriers response. In both materials, we found a significant reduction in the free carriers scattering rate, i.e. possible increase in mobility, at higher irradiation flux. This is consistent with our previous findings that irradiation affects the crystallite size and the micro-strain, but it does not induce major structural changes.

Microstructure, properties and applications of Zr-carbide, Zr-nitride and Zr-carbonitride coatings: a review

“…Optical reflectance measurements and high energy X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HE-XPS) were used to study the effect of 800 keV Ar ion irradiation on the optical and electronic properties of nanocrystalline ZrC and ZrN thin films obtained using the pulsed laser deposition technique. 65 It was observed that irradiation affects the optical properties of the films primarily at low frequencies, which is dominated by the response of free carriers. A significant reduction in the free carrier scattering rate and an increase in zero frequency conductivity, i.e.…”

“…24,25,26,27,28 Erosion behavior of ZrN coatings was studied in 1988 29 and 1990. 30 Various studies were conducted on ZrN coatings in the following decades to evaluate their various properties such as tribology, 31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38 erosion, 39,40,41 adhesion, 31 structure, composition, corrosion and oxidation, 42,43,44,45 nuclear fuel element compatibility, 46,47,48 color of coatings, 49 influence of synthesis parameters, 50,51,52,53 bio-and cyto-compatibility of human body implants, 54,55,56,57,58,59,60 optical, electrical and electronic properties, 61,62,63,64,65 and modeling and computational analysis. 66,67,68 Various investigations on Zr-carbonitride coatings have been undertaken to study synthesis parameters, 69<...>…”

Microstructural investigations of 800 keV Ar ions irradiated nanocrystalline ZrN thin films

“…For nuclear applications, it is necessary to investigate the effect of radiation on the ZrN films composition, structure and properties. The effect of neutrons, ions and protons irradiation on ZrN has been recently investigated [8,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. New results indicated that nanocrystalline materials could be more tolerant to radiation damage than large grain or single crystal materials.…”

“…New results indicated that nanocrystalline materials could be more tolerant to radiation damage than large grain or single crystal materials. Since ZrN films could be grown as a nanocrystalline film with grain sizes around 10 nm, there has been renewed interest to study the effect of radiation on such materials [8,17,18,[22][23][24].…”

“…We previously investigated the effect of 800 keV Ar ions irradiation on the structural, mechanical and optical properties of ZrN films grown by PLD [17,24]. The PLD grown films are usually very dense, flat and smooth, with surface RMS values of the order of 1 nm, which is a great advantage for experimental investigations since grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), diffusive X-ray scattering, or nanoindentation techniques could be easily employed to observe the effect of irradiation on materials structure, density, surface morphology and mechanical properties [16][17][18]24].…”