Laser irradiation of nickel single crystals

The effect of Q-switched Nd:YAG laser beam irradiation on virgin and ion-implanted Ni 〈110〉 single crystals has been studied. Rutherford backscattering and channeling have been used to establish crystal quality and to determine depth distributions and lattice locations of the implanted species (Au, Ag, and Ta) before and after laser treatment. Chanelling and Nomarski optical microscopy show that the Ni surface melts during the irradiation, followed by an epitaxial lattice regrowth resulting in (i) a formation of defects even in samples, (ii) a redistribution of the implanted atoms, and (iii) implanted atoms residing on substitutional lattice sites to form metastable solid solutions.