A common misconception is that the irradiation of solids with energetic electrons and ions has exclusively detrimental effects on the properties of target materials. In addition to the well-known cases of doping of bulk semiconductors and ion beam nitriding of steels, recent experiments show that irradiation can also have beneficial effects on nanostructured systems. Electron or ion beams may serve as tools to synthesize nanoclusters and nanowires, change their morphology in a controllable manner, and tailor their mechanical, electronic, and even magnetic properties. Harnessing irradiation as a tool for modifying material properties at the nanoscale requires having the full microscopic picture of defect production and annealing in nanotargets. In this article, we review recent progress in the understanding of effects of irradiation on various zero-dimensional and one-dimensional nanoscale systems, such as semiconductor and metal nanoclusters and nanowires, nanotubes, and fullerenes. We also consider the t...

Ion and electron irradiation-induced effects in nanostructured materials

Irradiating solids with energetic particles is usually thought to introduce disorder, normally an undesirable phenomenon. But recent experiments on electron or ion irradiation of various nanostructures demonstrate that it can have beneficial effects and that electron or ion beams may be used to tailor the structure and properties of nanosystems with high precision. Moreover, in many cases irradiation can lead to self-organization or self-assembly in nanostructures. In this review we survey recent advances in the rapidly evolving area of irradiation effects in nanostructured materials, with particular emphasis on carbon systems because of their technological importance and the unique ability of graphitic networks to reconstruct under irradiation. We dwell not only on the physics behind irradiation of nanostructures but also on the technical applicability of irradiation for nanoengineering of carbon and other systems.

Engineering of nanostructured carbon materials with electron or ion beams

This review provides a comprehensive evaluation of the state-of-knowledge of radiation effects in crystalline ceramics that may be used for the immobilization of high-level nuclear waste and plutonium. The current understanding of radiation damage processes, defect generation, microstructure development, theoretical methods, and experimental methods are reviewed. Fundamental scientific and technological issues that offer opportunities for research are identified. The most important issue is the need for an understanding of the radiation-induced structural changes at the atomic, microscopic, and macroscopic levels, and the effect of these changes on the release rates of radionuclides during corrosion.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/09D70E1FB1A625EC09BB98883C3A5ED3/S0884291400044411a.pdf/div-class-title-radiation-effects-in-crystalline-ceramics-for-the-immobilization-of-high-level-nuclear-waste-and-plutonium-div.pdf

Radiation effects in crystalline ceramics for the immobilization of high-level nuclear waste and plutonium

The fairly recent availability of commercial focused ion beam (FIB) microscopes has led to rapid development of their applications for materials science. FIB instruments have both imaging and micromachining capabilities at the nanometer–micrometer scale; thus, a broad range of fundamental studies and technological applications have been enhanced or made possible with FIB technology. This introductory article covers the basic FIB instrument and the fundamentals of ion–solid interactions that lead to the many unique FIB capabilities as well as some of the unwanted artifacts associated with FIB instruments. The four topical articles following this introduction give overviews of specific applications of the FIB in materials science, focusing on its particular strengths as a tool for characterization and transmission electron microscopy sample preparation, as well as its potential for ion beam fabrication and prototyping.

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Focused Ion Beam Microscopy and Micromachining

Radiation effects in nuclear waste forms for high-level radioactive waste

1. General features and fundamental concepts 2. Interatomic potentials 3. Dynamics of binary elastic collisions 4. Cross-section 5. Ion stopping 6. Ion range and range distribution 7. Radiation damage and spikes 8. Ion-solid simulations and irradiation enhanced transport 9. Sputtering 10. Order-disorder under irradiation and ion implantation metallurgy 11. Ion beam mixing 12. Phase transformations 13. Ion beam assisted deposition 14. Applications of ion beam processing techniques 15. Ion beam system features Appendices: A. Crystallography B. Table of contents C. Density of states D. Derivation of the Thomas-Fermi differential equations E. Centre-of-mass and laboratory scattering angles F. Miedema's semi-empirical model for the enthalpy of formation in the liquid and solid state G. Implantation metallurgy - study of equilibrium alloys.

Ion-Solid Interactions: Fundamentals and Applications

We have deposited layered structures of MoSi2/SiC composite coatings on different substrates by using a sputtering technique. SiC was used for a constituent of this structure because of the thermodynamic stability of the MoSi2/SiC system. DC -magnetron and rf -diode systems were used to sputter MoSi2 and SiC, respectively. The substrates were mounted on a rotating holder allowing successive deposition of MoSi2 and SiC layers. The total number of sublayers of each kind was 90. The thickness of the MoSi2 sublayers was 10 nm and that of the SiC 3 nm.

J-P. Hirvonen

Papers

Ion-Solid Interactions: Fundamentals and Applications

Sputter Deposition and Characterization of MoSi2/SiC Composite Coatings

Tribological characteristics of MoSi2/SiC nanocomposites