Study of the effect of high electronic excitations in quasicrystals irradiated with heavy ions

G. Coddens (1) , A. Dunlop (1) , Hichem Dammak (2) , R. Chatterjee (3) , Y. Calvayrac (4) , M. Quiquandon (5) , E. Elkaïm (6) , M. Gailhanou (6) , S. Rouzière (6)

1 LSI - Laboratoire des Solides Irradiés - Irradiated Solids Laboratory
2 SPMS - Laboratoire Structures, Propriétés et Modélisation des solides
3 IIT Delhi - Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
4 UMR GESTE - Gestion Territoriale de l'Eau et de l'environnement
5 LEM, UMR 104 CNRS-ONERA, Université Paris Saclay (COmUE) [Châtillon]
6 LURE - Laboratoire pour l'utilisation du rayonnement électromagnétique

We have studied the effect of irradiation with 900 MeV Pb and 780 MeV Xe ions on quasicrystals Al62Cu25.5Fe12.5 and the related cubic α-phase Al55Cu27Fe11Si 7. The fluences ranged from 1010 to 5.8×10 13 ions/cm2. Irradiations were performed at 80 K and at room temperature. The structural changes induced by the electronic excitations were studied by high-resolution X-ray diffraction. Whereas one might have expected the irradiations to induce important structural transformations, e.g. a phase transition from an icosahedral to a rhombohedral phase, only minor structural modifications are observed in the icosahedral phase and none in the α-phase. The defects created are not phasonic. Our results suggest a remarkable structural stability of these phases with respect to heavy-ion irradiation. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mots clés: Approximants; Electronic excitation; Phason strain; Quasicrystals; Swift-heavy-ion irradiation; X-ray diffraction

Domaines: Matériaux

G. Coddens, A. Dunlop, Hichem Dammak, R. Chatterjee, Y. Calvayrac, et al.. Study of the effect of high electronic excitations in quasicrystals irradiated with heavy ions. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 2003, 211 (1), pp.122-132. ⟨10.1016/S0168-583X(03)01210-2⟩. ⟨hal-02270835⟩