Open AccessMorphological impact of low-energy Xe+ irradiation on polycrystalline titanium targets
Author(s) -
Marga García,
R. Gago,
D. Esteban-Mendoza,
Rodolfo Cuerno,
J. Rickards
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/1593/1/012041
Subject(s) - materials science , crystallite , ion beam , ion , irradiation , focused ion beam , microstructure , atomic physics , molecular physics , analytical chemistry (journal) , composite material , chemistry , nuclear physics , chromatography , physics , organic chemistry , metallurgy
Low energy (1-keV) Xe + irradiation at different incidence angles (α) has been performed on pure polycrystalline Ti pellets at room temperature. The ion current was set between 110 and 200 μA cm −2 (ion flux ∼ 7-12 ×10 14 ions cm −2 s −1 ). Changes of the surface morphology were characterized ex-situ with scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Ion bombardment induces a significant surface roughening, with a complex morphology due to the polycrystalline nature of the targets. For α ≤ 60°, ripple nanostructures appear within a long-range roughening. The ripple domains present a short-range order, with no orientation coherence between different domains or with respect to the ion beam. For α = 70°, large pillar-like structures appear aligned with respect to the ion beam. Finally, at gracing incidence (α = 80°), a smooth surface emerges with shallow ripples oriented parallel to the ion beam. The observed features can be interpreted as the result from the interplay between transport and erosion mechanisms, which are modulated by the initial material microstructure (grain and crystal size). Finally, the surfaces become more hydrophobic after ion irradiation, which can be exploited for biomedical applications.