Ion species/energy dependence of irradiation-induced lattice structure transformation and surface hardness of Ni₃Nb and Ni₃Ta intermetallic compounds

Bulk samples of Ni₃Nb and Ni₃Ta intermetallic compounds were irradiated with 16 MeV Au, 4.5 MeV Ni, 4.5 MeV Al, 200 MeV Xe and 1.0 MeV He ions, and the change in near-surface lattice structure was investigated by means of the grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXD) and the extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). The Ni₃Nb and Ni₃Ta lattice structures transform from the ordered structures (orthorhombic and monoclinic structures for Ni₃Nb and Ni₃Ta, respectively) to the amorphous state by the Au, Ni, Al and Xe ion irradiations. Irrespective of such heavy ion species or energies, the lattice structure transformation to the amorphous state almost correlate with the density of energy deposited through elastic collisions. In the case of the samples irradiated with 1.0 MeV He ions, however, no amorphization was observed even when the density of elastically deposited energy is the same as that for Au irradiated sample which showed the amorphous phase. The change in Vickers hardness induced by the amorphization was also measured and was discussed in terms of ion fluence and the density of deposited energy.