Influence of nonequilibrium phase transitions in solids on the processes induced by ion bombardment

The experimental results are reviewed which may be treated as indication of the occurrence of nonequilibrium phase transitions in solids, subjected to continuous ion bombardment. The effects in question may be divided into three basic groups. The first group comprises the regularities observable upon transition from the crystalline to amorphous state as a result of accumulation of radiation defects in a solid. The second group is associated with transitions to continuous vibrations. The third group comprises the effects which may be interpreted as manifestations of hydrodynamic instabilities of the primary-particle flux in interaction with solids