Conditions for the Suppression of Void Formation During Ion Bombardment

In the region of ion deposition the number of interstitials is larger than the number of vacancies produced by displacement damage. As a result void formation can be suppressed. The following conditions must be satisfied for the suppression to occur: the distribution of injected ions and the distribution of displacement damage must overlap; within this region of overlap, the irradiation conditions must be such that recombination is a significant process. It is shown that void-free zones along the ion range can be produced bordering on regions with voids both behind and in front of the displacement damage peak. The suppression of void formation is particularly severe in low-energy ion bombardments (in Ni). 11 ref.--AA