Molecular Dynamics of Radiation Damage in Amorphous Pd₈₀Si₂₀ Alloy using N⁺ Ions

Abstract

Irradiation experiments on amorphous Pd₈₀Si₂₀ alloy were carried out using 2.0 MeV N⁺ ions. X-ray diffraction (XRD), small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), and extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) were measured before and after irradiation.

A molecular dynamics (MD) simulation (for a bigger system than in our previous work) was performed to simulate radiation damage of an amorphous Pd₈₀Si₂₀ alloy by an accelerated N⁺ ion with several keV. Similarity of the experimental and the computational structural change was observed. A void, which had never been observed in the previous simulations with smaller acceleration energies of the N⁺ ion, was clearly observed which might explain the increase of the experimental structure factor in a small angle region. Additionally, the process from the appearance of the void to its extinction was examined in detail.

Key Words:

• Molecular dynamics
• amorphous alloys
• radiation damage