Damage accumulation and thermal recovery in SrTiO3 implanted with Au2+ ions

Damage accumulation and recovery process have been investigated in single crystal SrTiO3 irradiated with 1.0 MeV Au2+ using in-situ Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) in Channeling geometry. Samples were irradiated at a temperature of 200 K with ion fluences ranging from 5.0 x 1013--2.5 x 1014 Au2+/cm2 (0.22--1.10 dpa at damage peak). Subsequent isochronal annealing experiments were performed to study damage recovery processes up to a maximum temperature of 870 K. At an ion fluence between 2.0--2.5 x 1014 Au2+/cm2 (0.88--1.10 dpa), the implanted region, which is just below the surface, becomes amorphous. The recovery processes occur over a broad temperature range, and the damage created by low ion fluences, 5.0 x 1013--1.0 x 1014 Au2+/cm2, is almost completely recovered after annealing at 870 K