Surface Investigations of Selected Materials by Low-Energy Ion Scattering Technique

Abstract

Surfaces of three selected materials were investigated by means of low--energy ion-scattering technique: (1) the magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) exhibiting the so-called Verwey transition (TV(bulk) = 125 K) accompanied by a small cubic-monoclinic crystal distortion, (2) the intermetallic compound NdMn2 undergoing an antiferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition (T N = 104 K) accompanied by a large crystal distortion with a volume change of 1%, and (3) the typical insulator BaTiO3 with two structural transitions below 300 K. The primary energy of the (Ne + , Ar + ) ion beam was in the range of 4-8 keV, and the low-energy ion-scattering spectra were collected in the temperature range of 85-300 K. A large influence from the Verwey transition on the neutralization and re-ionization of scattered ions from magnetite surface was observed, while no visible change at the magnetic phase transition in NdMn 2 was revealed in the low-energy ion-scattering spectra. A strong dependence of the characteristics of the low-energy ion-scattering spectra on the irradiated time was observed for BaTiO 3 indicating that this surface was heavily charged by ion bombardments.

Argon ions induced thermoluminescence properties of Ba0.12Sr0.88SO4 phosphor

“…The composition and structure of solids are analyzed by using different techniques such as Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), Focused Ion Beam (FIB) electron microscopy, Rutherford Back Scattering (RBS), Elastic Recoil Detection (ERD) analysis, etc. In these techniques noble-gas ions (He + , Ne + , Ar + , Kr + , Xe + ) have been extensively used for the bombardment of solid surfaces [4][5][6][7].…”

Excitation of thermoluminescence in Eu doped Ba0.12Sr0.88SO4 nanophosphor by low energy argon ions

“…The ion-solid interaction is an active research area having wide range of applications [1,2]. The formation of new phases by ion irradiation, ion implantation, atomic mixing of multilayer's and dynamic mixing during implantation gives rise to a variety of physical and chemical processes.…”