Ion-beam irradiation of Cu and a Cu-Ni alloy single-crystal specimens: Proposed atom movement mechanism

Rutherford backscattering and channeling measurements have been applied to study deep radiation damage and depth profile of implanted Au atoms in pure Cu and Cu-1 at. % Ni alloy single-crystal specimens, which were irradiated off axis at room temperature by 300 keV Au⁺ ions to a dose of 2 × 10¹⁶ ions/cm². The damage range and depth range of the implanted Au atoms in the specimens of pure Cu were strikingly deeper than those in the specimens of Cu-1 at. % Ni alloys, respectively. An atom movement mechanism in solids under ion beam irradiation is proposed as the origin of the observed result.