Vaporlike phase of amorphous SiO is not a prerequisite for the core/shell ion tracks or ion shaping

Amekura, Hiroshi*; Kluth, P.*; Mota-Santiago, P.*; Sahlberg, I.*; Jantunen, V.*; Leino, A. A.*; Vazquez, H.*; Nordlund, K.*; Djurabekova, F.*; Okubo, Nariaki; et al.

Physical Review Materials (Internet), 2(9), p.096001_1 - 096001_10, 2018/09

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.2.096001

When a swift heavy ion (SHI) penetrates amorphous SiO, a core/shell (C/S) ion track is formed due to vaporization, where the ion track consists of a lower-density core and a higher-density shell. Here we reexamine this hypothesis. The MD simulations indicate that the vaporization is not induced under 50-MeV Si irradiation ( = 3 keV/nm), but the C/S tracks and the ion shaping of nanoparticles are nevertheless induced. Thus, the vaporization is not a prerequisite for the C/S tracks and the ion shaping.