Comparative study of radiation defect dynamics in 3C-SiC by X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, and ion channeling

摘要

At moderately elevated temperatures, radiation defects in SiC exhibit pronounced dynamic annealing, which remains poorly understood. Here, we study 3 C -SiC bombarded at 100 $$^{circ }$$ ∘ C with pulsed beams of 500 keV Ar ions. Radiation damage is monitored by a combination of X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, and ion channeling. Similar damage buildup behavior but with different defect relaxation time constants, ranging from $$sim 1$$ ∼ 1 to $$sim 6$$ ∼ 6 ms, is observed for the different types of lattice defects probed by these techniques. A correlation between relaxation times and the nature of the defects is proposed. These results reveal additional complexity of radiation defect dynamics in SiC and demonstrate that results of different defect characterization techniques are needed for a better understanding of dynamic annealing processes in solids.