Electron radiation damage of α-alumina

John E. Bonevich; Laurence D. Marks

doi:10.1016/0304-3991(91)90101-B

Electron radiation damage of α-alumina

John E. Bonevich^*, Laurence D. Marks

^*Corresponding author for this work

Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

Electron irradiation studies of α-alumina were conducted in both high vacuum and ultra-high vacuum (UHV) environments. In the high vacuum (10^-5 Pa) of a conventional high resolution electron microscope (C-HREM), the crystal surfaces damaged to form characteristic "dark-line" facets under low-flux ( 10 A cm²) conditions. However, in the UHV (10^-8 Pa) environment and similar electron flux, the surfaces did not facet and only suffered from oxygen loss. Under continued irradiation crystallites of aluminum formed on the surfaces. The damage process was accelerated at 100 keV, a regime where relative rate of ionization is favored and ballistic knock-on processes are minimized. These results signify that the damage process in α-alumina is associated with an ionization mechanism where the reaction products are greatly controlled by the ambient vacuum in the microscope.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	161-166
Number of pages	6
Journal	Ultramicroscopy
Volume	35
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3991(91)90101-B
State	Published - Feb 1991

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Instrumentation

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title = "Electron radiation damage of α-alumina",

abstract = "Electron irradiation studies of α-alumina were conducted in both high vacuum and ultra-high vacuum (UHV) environments. In the high vacuum (10-5 Pa) of a conventional high resolution electron microscope (C-HREM), the crystal surfaces damaged to form characteristic {"}dark-line{"} facets under low-flux ( 10 A cm2) conditions. However, in the UHV (10-8 Pa) environment and similar electron flux, the surfaces did not facet and only suffered from oxygen loss. Under continued irradiation crystallites of aluminum formed on the surfaces. The damage process was accelerated at 100 keV, a regime where relative rate of ionization is favored and ballistic knock-on processes are minimized. These results signify that the damage process in α-alumina is associated with an ionization mechanism where the reaction products are greatly controlled by the ambient vacuum in the microscope.",

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T1 - Electron radiation damage of α-alumina

AU - Bonevich, John E.

AU - Marks, Laurence D.

PY - 1991/2

Y1 - 1991/2

N2 - Electron irradiation studies of α-alumina were conducted in both high vacuum and ultra-high vacuum (UHV) environments. In the high vacuum (10-5 Pa) of a conventional high resolution electron microscope (C-HREM), the crystal surfaces damaged to form characteristic "dark-line" facets under low-flux ( 10 A cm2) conditions. However, in the UHV (10-8 Pa) environment and similar electron flux, the surfaces did not facet and only suffered from oxygen loss. Under continued irradiation crystallites of aluminum formed on the surfaces. The damage process was accelerated at 100 keV, a regime where relative rate of ionization is favored and ballistic knock-on processes are minimized. These results signify that the damage process in α-alumina is associated with an ionization mechanism where the reaction products are greatly controlled by the ambient vacuum in the microscope.

AB - Electron irradiation studies of α-alumina were conducted in both high vacuum and ultra-high vacuum (UHV) environments. In the high vacuum (10-5 Pa) of a conventional high resolution electron microscope (C-HREM), the crystal surfaces damaged to form characteristic "dark-line" facets under low-flux ( 10 A cm2) conditions. However, in the UHV (10-8 Pa) environment and similar electron flux, the surfaces did not facet and only suffered from oxygen loss. Under continued irradiation crystallites of aluminum formed on the surfaces. The damage process was accelerated at 100 keV, a regime where relative rate of ionization is favored and ballistic knock-on processes are minimized. These results signify that the damage process in α-alumina is associated with an ionization mechanism where the reaction products are greatly controlled by the ambient vacuum in the microscope.

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Electron radiation damage of α-alumina

Abstract

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