Monoclinic to tetragonal phase transition in thin films of zirconium oxide: effect on electronic energy loss

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films of a thickness of about 280 nm on silicon substrates were irradiated using 120 MeV Ag and 130 MeV Ni ions for the varying fluences from 1x10¹² to 3x10¹³ ions/cm². Films were investigated using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and micro-Raman. Studies reveal a phase transition from the monoclinic to tetragonal phase. Efforts are on the way to understand the mechanism of this phase transition in terms of energy deposited by ions in the lattice. However, it is clear that this phase transition is not only due to transient temperature induced by swift heavy ions, but also due to the high density of defects induced in the lattice. The effect of the electronic energy loss on phase transition will be presented in detailed. (author)