In recent experiments the irradiation of insulators of perovskite type with swift heavy ions under glancing incidence has been shown to provide a unique means to generate periodically arranged nanodots at the surface. The physical origin of these patterns has been suggested to stem from a highly anisotropic electron density distribution within the bulk. In order to show the relevance of the electron density distribution of the target we present a model calculation for the system Xe$^{+23}$ $\to$ SrTiO$_{3}$ that is known to produce the aforementioned surface modifications. On the basis of the Lindhard model of electronic stopping, we employ highly-resolved \emph{ab-initio} electron density data to describe the conversion of kinetic energy into excitation energy along the ion track. The primary particle dynamics are obtained via integration of the Newtonian equations of motion that are governed by a space- and time-dependent friction force originating from Lindhard stopping. The analysis of the local electronic stopping power along the ion track reveals a pronounced periodic structure. The periodicity length strongly varies with the particular choice of the polar angle of incidence and is directly correlated to the experimentally observed formation of periodic nanodots at insulator surfaces.
Atomistic Mechanisms of Temperature-Dependent Ion Track Formation in Gallium Nitride under Swift Heavy Ion Irradiation
School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University（西安交通大学核科学与技术学院）；Academy of Chips Technology, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation（中国电子科技集团公司芯片技术研究院）；National Key Laboratory of Integrated Circuits and Microsystems（集成电路与微系统国家重点实验室）
SPORT: A new sub-nanosecond time-resolved instrument to study swift heavy ion-beam induced luminescence - Application to luminescence degradation of a fast plastic scintillator
Effect of radially heterogeneous band gap collapse on formation of swift heavy ion tracks in Al2O3
P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences（俄罗斯科学院列别捷夫物理研究所）；Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences（捷克科学院物理研究所）；Institute of Plasma Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences（捷克科学院等离子体物理研究所）
