HIGH-RESOLUTION ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY OF TRACKS IN SOLIDS

The damage induced by heavy ion irradiation in a wide palette of mater ials, extending from metals to insulators, is presented. The damage cr eation and the track morphology have been investigated by electron mic roscopy and especially HRTEM when available. It is shown that heavy io n irradiation in the electronic stopping power regime is a very effici ent tool to amorphize the solids. But the sensitivity to irradiation o f each material is strongly variable since the electronic stopping pow er threshold for damage creation can vary between 1 and 40 keV/nm. The wide difference in sensitivity to heavy ion irradiation between the i nsensitive materials such as some semiconductors and insulators and th e very sensitive ones like the quartz and some magnetic ferrites is a real challenge for any general model of damage creation in solids.