The examination of calcium ion implanted alumina with energy filtered transmission electron microscopy

Ion implantation can be used to alter in the optical response of insulators through the formation of embedded nano-sized particles. Single crystal alumina has been implanted at ambient temperature with 50 keV Ca{sup +} to a fluence of 5 {times} 10{sup 16} ions/cm{sup 2}. Ion channeling, Knoop microhardness measurements, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicate that the alumina surface layer was amorphized by the implant. TEM also revealed nano-sized crystals {approx}7--8 nm in diameter. These nanocrystals are randomly oriented, and exhibit a face-centered cubic structure (FCC) with a lattice parameter of 0.409 nm {+-} 0.002 nm. The similarity between this crystallography and that of pure aluminum suggests that they are metallic aluminum nanocrystals with a slightly dilated lattice parameter, possibly due to the incorporation of a small amount of calcium. Energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) provides an avenue by which to confirm the metallic nature of the aluminum involved in the nanocrystals. EFTEM has confirmed that the aluminum present in the particles is metallic in nature, that the particles are oxygen deficient in comparison with the matrix material and that the particles are deficient in calcium, and therefore not likely to be calcia. The particles thus appear to be FCC Al (possibly alloyed with a few percent Ca) with a lattice parameter of 0.409nm. A similar result was obtained for yttrium ion implantation into alumina