Temperature dependence of damage ranges in some metals after argon implantation

The depths of radiation damage after implanting 150 keV argon ions into single crystals of iron, nickel and copper at substrate temperatures between 77 and 523 K have been investigated. In all cases a moderate increase of damage ranges with temperature was observed. The ratio of damage depth to projected ion range at liquid-nitrogen temperature has been determined as 1.1 for iron, 2.0 for nickel and 2.8 for copper. These results might indicate a dependence of damage depths on thermal properties and lattice structure of the target material. (orig.)