Evolution of surface morphology of NiO thin films under swift heavy ion irradiation

• Published in: Applied surface science 2009-10, Vol.256 (2), p.521-523
• Main Authors: Mallick, P., Rath, Chandana, Majumder, S., Biswal, R., Agarwal, D.C., Varma, Shikha, Avasthi, D.K., Satyam, P.V., Mishra, N.C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atomic force microscopy; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Ion irradiation; Nanoparticles; NiO; Physics
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2009.07.107

NiO nanoparticle thin films grown on Si substrates were irradiated by 107 MeV Ag 8+ ions. The films were characterized by glancing angle X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. Ag ion irradiation was found to influence the shape and size of the nanoparticles. The pristine NiO film consisted of uniform size (∼100 nm along major axis and ∼55 nm along minor axis) elliptical particles, which changed to also of uniform size (∼63 nm) circular shape particles on irradiation at a fluence of 3 × 10 13 ions cm −2. Comparison of XRD line width analysis and AFM data revealed that the particles in the pristine films are single crystalline, which turn to polycrystalline on irradiation with 107 MeV Ag ions.