Abstract
Damage production and amorphization resulting from the interaction of medium-energy (from 40 to 480 keV) noble-gas ions (from He to Kr) with potassium tantalate (KTaO3) are determined using ion channeling measurements. A disorder accumulation model has been fit to the maximum damage concentration versus ion fluence to extract the cross sections for direct-impact and defect-stimulated amorphization, and the results indicate that defect-stimulated amorphization is the dominant mechanism. These cross sections exhibit a strong dependence on the calculated cross sections for displacing lattice atoms, indicating a dominant contribution of nuclear interactions to the defect production and amorphization processes under the irradiation conditions used in this study. These experimental findings, along with the model fits, suggest that the difference in recoil spectra between He and the other heavier ions may be the main driving force for the decreased damage efficiency observed for He ions, which results in a reduced rate of damage accumulation.