The Damage Analysis of Nd:YVO4 Crystal Implanted by He+ Ions at Low Energy

Abstract

We report the damage properties of the He + ions implanted Nd:YVO 4 crystal. Implantation was carried out at room temperature by He + ions at the doses of 1×10 16 , 2×10 16 , and 4×10 16 ions/cm 2 with the energy of 200keV. The depth of the damage region is about 0.85μm beneath the surface. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS)/channeling technique was used to investigate the damage profile of ions implanted samples. Low atomic displacement ratio in as-implanted samples indicates a high irradiative resistance of YVO 4 crystal and the dynamic annealing effect of He + ions in the implantation process. Post-implant annealing was performed for all the samples at 200 o C and 300 o C for an hour, respectively. The height and width of damage peak decreased somewhat after annealing at 200 o C. Repairing and re-crystallization of damaged lattice was achieved after annealing at 300 o C. Photoluminescence of ion-implanted samples were measured to investigate effect of implantation on fluorescence properties of Nd 3+ . The damage on sample surface was analyzed by optical microscopy (OM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).