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Ion irradiation of gallium nitride: interplay between nuclear and electronic energy loss

Behavior of materials in radiation harsh environment is an important issue and damage build-up within the material in such environment can exhibit complex behavior. Therefore, as one of the most prominent candidate materials that can be used in radiation harsh environments, response of GaN to ion irradiation should be studied in detail. Dense electronic excitation in the wake of the swift heavy ion passage through a material (mass > 20 amu, kinetic energy > 1 MeV/amu) can lead to nanoscale material damage along ion trajectory called ion track [1], [2]. Irradiation with heavy ions in the keV energy range can also produce defects but via different energy dissipation channel. In this case, it is well known that direct ion-atom collision (i.e. nuclear energy loss) can produce defects in GaN [3]. In our previous study [1], we found no evidence of ion track formation in the bulk after swift heavy ion irradiation using 23 MeV I and 90 MeV Xe beams. Recently, synergistic effects of nuclear and electronic energy loss came into research focus. After introducing additional disorder into moderately damaged GaN crystals via pre-irradiating them either with 2 MeV Au or with 900 MeV Xe ion beams, we were able to introduce additional damage using the same (as in our previous study [1]) 23 MeV I and 90 MeV Xe ion beams. Here, we report the results of sequential ion irradiation of GaN based on the RBS/c, TEM and AFM measurements. [1] M. Karlušić et al., Response of GaN to energetic ion irradiation - conditions for ion track formation, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 48 (2015) 325304 [2] M. Sall et al., Track formation in III-N semiconductors irradiated by swift heavy ions and fullerene and re-evaluation of the inelastic thermal spike model, J. Mater. Sci. (2015) 50:5214–5227 [3] S. O. Kucheyev et al., Ion implantation into GaN, Mater. Sci. Eng., R , 33 (2001) 51-107

semiconductors ; thin films ; gallium nitride ; Ion irradiation ; defects

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