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Author(s) |
Patel, M. K.; Avasthi, D. K.; Kulriya, P. K.; Kailas, S.; Pivin, J. C.; Tyagi, A. K.; Vijayakumar, V. |
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Structural modifications in the zircon and scheelite phases of
ThGeO4 induced by swift heavy ions (93 MeV Ni7+) at different fluences as well as pressure quenching effects are reported. X-ray diffraction and Raman measurements at room temperature on the irradiated zircon phase of
ThGeO4 indicate the occurrence of stresses that lead to a reduction of the cell volume up to 2% followed by its transformation to a mixture of nano-crystalline and amorphous scheelite phases. Irradiation of the zircon phase at liquid nitrogen temperature induces amorphization at a lower fluence (7.5 x
1016 ions/m2), as compared to that at room temperature (6 x
1017 ions/m2). Scheelite type ThGeO4 irradiated at room temperature under goes complete amorphization at a lower fluence of 7.5 x
1016 ions/m2) without any volume reduction. The track radii deduced from X-ray diffraction measurements on room temperature irradiated zircon, scheelite and low temperature irradiated zircon phases of
ThGeO4 are, 3.9, 3.5 and 4.5 nm, respectively. X-ray structural investigations on the zircon phase of
ThGeO4 recovered after pressurization to about 3.5 and 9 GPa at ambient temperature show the coexistence of zircon and disordered scheelite phases with a larger fraction of scheelite phase occurring at 9 GPa. on the other hand, the scheelite phase quenched from 9 GPa shows crystalline scheelite phase pattern. |
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