Growth of palladium nanocrystallites induced by hydrogen-ion irradiation at low energies

Crystalline particles of palladium with nanometer dimensions are known to g row on polycrystalline Pd interacting with low-energy hydrogen or deuterium ions. This so-called "ion-induced crystallite growth" (IICG) is reviewed b riefly. In IICG, Pd crystallites disperse on an amorphous medium termed "ma trix", which. like volcanic magma, emerges from the subsurface through a su rface crater or fissure. The crystallites are mostly spherical, presumably because of their melting during hydrogen irradiation. The target temperatur es required for this solid-to-liquid transformation is around one-third of the melting point of Pd; absorbed hydrogen ions might dramatically reduce t he melting temperature of the crystallites. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.