Structural phase transition in ZrO2 induced by swift heavy ion irradiation at high pressure

B. Schuster (1, 2) , M. Lang (3) , R. Klein (1) , C. Trautmann (1) , R. Neumann (1) , A. Benyagoub (4) , F. Fujara (2)

1 GSI - Helmholtz zentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH
2 TU Darmstadt - Technische Universität Darmstadt - Technical University of Darmstadt
3 University of Michigan [Ann Arbor]
4 CIMAP - UMR 6252 - Centre de recherche sur les Ions, les MAtériaux et la Photonique

Exposing pressurized crystals to GeV heavy ions reveals unexpected structural changes. Irradiated at ambient conditions, natural zirconia (ZrO2) transforms from the monoclinic structure to its tetragonal (hightemperature) phase. For this process the required fluence must exceed 5×10^12 ions/cm2 for Pb and U, and become even significantly higher for lighter ions. If samples are pressurized during irradiation using diamond anvil cells, the required fluence drops at least by one order of magnitude. The efficiency of the monoclinic to tetragonal phase transition becomes larger with increasing pressure.

Mots clés: Zirconia; phase transition; high pressure; irradiation effect; Raman spectroscopy

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

B. Schuster, M. Lang, R. Klein, C. Trautmann, R. Neumann, et al.. Structural phase transition in ZrO2 induced by swift heavy ion irradiation at high pressure. The Seventh International Symposium on Swift Heavy Ions in Matter, Jun 2008, Lyon, France. ⟨hal-00251589⟩