Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-x5cpj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-27T23:03:53.787Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

AFM Imaging of the Crystalline-To-Amorphous Transition On the Surface of Ion-Implanted Mica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Ray K. Eby
Affiliation:
Dept of Geology, Univ of Toronto, 22 Russell St, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B1
Grant S. Henderson
Affiliation:
Dept of Geology, Univ of Toronto, 22 Russell St, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B1
Fred J. Wicks
Affiliation:
Mineralogy Dept, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queens Park, Toronto, Ont M5S 2C6
George W. Arnold
Affiliation:
Dept 1111, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 87185
Get access

Abstract

Scanning microscopy is the only technique available for directly imaging the short-range structural features of the crystalline-to-amorphous (C-A) transition. Cleaved sheets of muscovite were implanted with 600 keV argon ions in order to induce radiation damage; thus producing the C-A transition. AFM images of Ar-implanted muscovite show the surface structural features of the C-A transition. Low-resolution images show a progressive increase in the surface roughness of muscovite with increasing ion dose, as seen by the development of hummocky microtopography, whose individual hummocks are 25 nm across. High-resolution AFM images of unimplanted muscovite reveal a highly crystalline structure, as shown by the hexagonal arrangement of the (SiO4)-tetrahedral layers. By scraping through the uppermost surface layer of the implanted samples, using a cantilever forces of 50 - 100 nN, the C-A transition is recognized by a decrease in the long-range order of the tetrahedral layers. Accordingly, crystal defects and highly disordered regions increase in frequency and size with Ar-dose. At the highest Ardose, disordered regions dominate the structure, lending complications to AFM image interpretation. Surface hardness decreases with higher radiation doses, as evidenced by the greater ease of scraping through atomic layers in the more damaged samples.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Binning, G., Quate, C.F. and Gerber, C., Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 930 (1986).Google Scholar
2. Hartman, H. et al., Clays and Clay Minerals 38, 337 (1990).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Wicks, F.J., Kjoller, K. and Henderson, G.S., Canad. Mineral. 30, 83 (1992).Google Scholar
4. Drake, B. et al., Science 243, 1586 (1989).Google Scholar
5. Hillner, P.E., Gratz, A.J., Manne, S. and Hansma, P.K., Geology 20, 359 (1992).2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Feenstra, R.M. and Oehrlein, G.S., Appl. Phys. Lett. 47, 97 (1985).Google Scholar
7. Porte, L., Phaner, M., de Villeneuve, C.H., Moncoffre, N. and Tousset, J., Nucl. Instr. Meth. Phys. Res. B44, 116 (1989).Google Scholar
8. Coratger, , Claverie, A., Ajustron, F. and Beauvillain, J., Surf. Sci. 227, 7 (1990).Google Scholar
9. Thibaudau, F. Cousty, J. Balanzat, E. and Bouffard, S. Phys. Rev. Lett. 67 1582 (1991).Google Scholar
10. Ewing, R.C., Chakoumakos, B.C., Lumpkin, L.R. and Murakami, T., MRS Bull. May/June, 58 (1987).Google Scholar
11. Wang, L.M., and Ewing, R.C., MRS Bull. XVII/5, 38 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Israelachvili, J.N., J.N. Intermolecular and Surface Forces with Applications to Colloidal and Biological Systems (Academic Press, New York, 1985).Google Scholar
13. Lindgreen, H. et al., Amer. Mineral. 76, 1218 (1991).Google Scholar
14. Eby, R.K., and Ewing, R.C., Journ. Mater. Res. 7(11), 3080 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15. Ion Implantation - Science & Technology, ed. Ziegler, J.F. (Academic Press, NY, 1984).Google Scholar
16. Bailey, S.W., in Micas, Reviews in Mineralogy 13, ed. Bailey, S.W. (BookCrafters, Inc., Michigan, 1984), pp. 1360.Google Scholar
17. Weber, W.J., Journ. Mater. Res. 5, 2687 (1990).Google Scholar