Stella Ramos

Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 | UCBL · Institut lumière matière

Understanding the adsorption of water and characterizing the water film formed within nanostructures are essential for advancements in fields such as nanofluidics, water purification, and biosensing devices. In our research, we focus on studying the condensation and transport of water through an alumina membrane with nanopores of varying wettabilit...

Drop breakup is often associated with violent impacts onto targets or fast inner bubble growth consecutive to phase change. We report on a well-controlled drop breakup experiment where bubble growth is triggered by the decrease of the ambient pressure. The drop initially sits on a textured hydrophobic surface at controlled temperature, and a bubble...

We report on an experimental study of water droplets freezing on highly hydrophobic surfaces decorated by a random distribution of nanometric pores. We particularly analyze the influence of the substrate temperature ranging between 23 °C and 80 °C on the freezing phenomenon and the temporal stability of the resulting frozen droplets. The cooling an...

This manuscript reports an experimental study on surfaces of natural rubber membranes modified by incorporation of calcium phosphate particles. In particular, we focused on the wettability, a subject for biological aspects. Five surfaces of natural rubber (NR) membranes (pure, polymer-bioceramic composite (NR-CaP) and three modified surfaces subjec...

Low cost and well characterized superhydrophobic surfaces are frequently required for industrial applications. Materials are commonly structured at the micro or nano scale. Surfaces decorated with nanotube derivatives synthesized by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) are of particular interest, since suitable modifications in the gro...

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The elaboration and characterization of hydrophobic melamine-based sponges are presented. Sponges were obtained by single-step carbonization of commercial melamine foam having a 3D interconnected network. We show that optimized sponges can be elaborated from a simple pyrolysis treatment with rather low temperatures of 500–600 °C. These materials ex...

We report on experiments of drop evaporation on heated super-hydrophobic surfaces decorated with micrometer-sized mushroom-like pillars. We analyze the influence of two parameters on the evaporation dynamics: the solid-liquid fraction and the substrate temperature, ranging between 30°C and 80°C. In the different configurations investigated, the dro...

In this article, we experimentally study the influence of the surrounding pressure ranging between 1 kPa and 101 kPa on the evaporation dynamics of drops on hydrophobic and superhydrophobic substrates. These surfaces were, initially, constructed by nanocoating of etched and/or nonetched aluminum substrates. The evaporation of droplet is observed to...

In the present study, we experimentally study the evaporation modes and kinetics of sessile drops of water on highly hydrophobic surfaces (contact angle ∼160°), heated to temperatures ranging between 40° and 70 °C. These surfaces were initially constructed by means of controlled tailoring of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) substrates. The evaporatio...

We simulate in two dimensions the wetting behavior of a liquid droplet placed on a solid surface structured by a regular distribution of pillars. For this purpose, as in a recent study, we used the Potts Hamiltonian formalism. We focused our investigations on the transition between the wetting regimes characteristic of the super-repellent property...

The objective of this study was to address the following question: 'Which properties are modified in partially demineralized surfaces, compared with non-demineralized dentin surfaces, following orthophosphoric acid-etching as performed in clinical procedures?'. For this purpose, the complementary techniques atomic force microscopy/spectroscopy, sca...

Objective: To evaluate the antimicrobial activity and surface properties of an acrylic resin containing the biocide polymer poly (2-tert-butylaminoethyl) methacrylate (PTBAEMA). Background: Several approaches have been proposed to prevent oral infections, including the incorporation of antimicrobial agents to acrylic resins. Materials and metho...

We present a two dimensional simulation based on the cellular Potts model of a liquid droplet sliding down a ramp of pillars. For the same critical angle at which a droplet starts to slide with minimal velocity on a smooth ramp in our simulation, we find that for a ramp of pillars the velocity of the droplet depends strongly on the solid fraction o...

MgO and LiNbO 3 single crystals were bombarded with GeV swift heavy ions (Pb, Gd) and 30MeV C60 clusters to study the damage production induced by giant electronic processes at stopping power up to 100keV/nm. The defect creation was characterized by optical absorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometr...

The effects of Ar post-bombardment on the dissolution and reprecipitation of carbonitrides present in implanted 1020 low carbon steel are investigated using conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS). The results are compared with similar experiments where samples of the same steel were post-bombarded with He. The experimental data show that...

Defect creation in refractory oxides known to be unsensitive to radiolysis, was shown to take place by high level electronic excitations induced by swift heavy ions or energetic cluster bombardments. Depending on the oxide a threshold in electronic energy loss for damage production was observed : MgO 22 keV/nm, AI 2 O 3 20 keV/nm and LiNbO 3 6 keV/...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the wetting properties of three adhesives systems on etched dentin surfaces submitted to a brief air-drying procedure, as in clinical conditions. The influence of two clinical parameters (surface temperature and surrounding hygrometry) on wetting was investigated. Two total-etch adhesives (Excite Vivapen...

The control of surface wetting properties to produce robust and strong hydrophobic and oleophobic effects on intrinsically oleophilic surfaces is at the heart of many technological applications. In this paper, we explore the conditions to observe such effects when the roughness of the substrate is of fractal nature and consists of nanofeatures obta...

When deposited on a hydrophobic rough surface, a small water drop looks like a small pearl. In this study we investigate the conditions to observe such a phenomenon when the roughness of the substrate, of fractal nature, consists of nanofeatures obtained by the ion track etching technique. The surface roughness was characterized by two parameters:...

We investigate the wetting properties of dentin surfaces submitted to a phosphoric acid etching followed by an air drying procedure, as in clinical situations of adhesive dentistry. The surface topography of the etched surfaces was characterized by AFM, and the wetting properties of water on these rough and heterogeneous surfaces were studied, by c...

This paper explores the possibility of making hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces from electroless displacement of Cu by Ag+, in the case where Cu oxidation is limited owing to Cu layers of nanometric thicknesses. The morphology of the Ag layers is studied by scanning electron microscopy for Cu thicknesses between 10 and 80nm. The mapping of...

Silicon nitride layers of 140 nm thickness were deposited on silicon wafers by low pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) and irradiated at GANIL with Pb ions of 110 MeV up to a maximum fluence of 4 x 10^13 cm-2. As shown in a previous work these irradiation conditions, characterized by a predominant electronic slowing-down (Se = 19.3 keV.nm-1...

The removal of contaminant particles in microelectronics processes now extends not only to the compounds themselves but also to the reactor pieces where they are fabricated. This raises new issues as both the particles and the reactor walls are highly rough and a maximum number of particles per unit area is tolerated. In this work we study the adhe...

Silicon nitride layers of 140 nm thickness were deposited on silicon wafers by low pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD). The samples were irradiated in the electronic slowing-down regime, with either Pb ions of 110 MeV (Se = 19.3 keV nm−1) or Xe ions of 710 MeV (Se = 22.1 keV nm−1). Using infrared absorption spectroscopy, the radiation-induc...

This paper reports on both ion track etching induced nano-structured surfaces with high hydrophobicity and the fundamental vibration modes of submillimeter drops supported by such surfaces. A drastic reduction in the hysteresis of the contact angles (Δθ⩽6°) substantially increases the mobility of the supported drop, which acquires a quasifree behav...

The present study deals with the creation of nano-rough surfaces with stable and controlled high hydrophobicity. These surfaces were obtained by combining the ion track etching technique with a simple functionalization by grafting perfluoroctyltrichlorosilane (PFOTS) molecules. Surface morphology was investigated by AFM observations which evidenced...

We study the pinning-depinning phenomenon of a contact line on a solid surface decorated by a random array of nanometric structures. For this purpose, we have investigated the contact angle hysteresis behaviour of six different wetting and non-wetting fluids with surface tensions varying from 25 to 72mN m(-1). For low values of the areal density of...

Swift heavy ion irradiation is a powerful tool to tailor surfaces under controlled conditions at a nanometric scale. The growing importance of nanostructured surfaces for a wide variety of applications and fundamental investigations is now well established. In this paper I will mainly discuss the interest of such surfaces for investigations concern...

Silicon oxide films thermally grown on Si(1 0 0) wafers were irradiated with 200 MeV 197Au ions in the 109–1010 cm−2 fluence range. The targets were then etched at room temperature in aqueous HF solution (1 vol.%) for various durations. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) in the tapping mode was used to probe the processed surfaces. Conical holes with a...

Composite oxide films (NiO–SiO2) were deposited on silicon wafers using the sol–gel dip coating technique. The average stoichiometry [NiO]/[SiO2], adjusted from the molar ratio of the two starting precursors, was typically 10%. Single and multilayer coatings were used to obtain film thicknesses from 70 to 400 nm. The samples were then irradiated at...

We present results from an experimental study on the phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis on solid surfaces decorated by a random array of nanometric hollows. For weak values of the areal density of defects φd, the hysteresis H increases linearly with φd. This evolution is described by a pinning–depinning process of the contact line by individual...

We investigate the wetting properties of random nanostructured surfaces, with particular attention devoted to the phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis. For this purpose, solid substrates were initially tailored at a nanometric scale by using swift heavy ion irradiation which produced a random distribution of defects. We characterize the wetting p...

Microstructural observations of gallium arsenide single crystals irradiated with a few tens of MeV C ₆₀ incident clusters (fullerenes) were performed. Normal and grazing incidences were investigated. Similar to in the case of silicon and germanium, cylindrical amorphous tracks whose diameters vary as a function of the projectile energy w...

Glass slices with a low roughness (∼0.2 nm) irradiated with swift heavy ions were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Ion impacts are materialized by the formation of hollow structures having a maximal depth of ∼3 nm. In order to investigate the role played by such modifications on the surface properties, thin gold films of ∼2 nm thickness we...

Damage creation in crystalline α-quartz by irradiation is studied using gold ions of energies between 0.5 and 10 MeV. For all ions, the total stopping power (dE/dx)tot has a value of about 4.5 keV/nm, whereas the contribution of the electronic stopping power ranges from 0.93 keV/nm at 0.5 MeV to 3.6 keV/nm at 10 MeV. This variation allows us to tes...

Conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) have been performed on irradiated germanium with a few tens of MeV C60 incident clusters (fullerenes). Normal and inclined incidences of the beam have been investigated. As observed in the case of silicon, microscopy observations after irradiation wit...

Damage creation in crystalline α-quartz under gold irradiation was studied at 1.0 and 5.5 MeV using the ARAMIS accelerator at CSNSM (Orsay). Although at these energies the total stopping powers are nearly equal (respectively, 4.20 and 4.46 keV nm−1), the electronic stopping power is only 1.23 keV nm−1 (25% of the total) at 1 MeV while it reaches 2....

Silicon wafers of (100) orientation were irradiated with Aun cluster beams (1⩽n⩽7) produced by the 2.5 MV Van de Graaff accelerator of the Institut de Physique Nucléaire de Lyon equipped with a liquid metal source. The incident energy was of 200 keV per gold atom, which corresponds to a slowing-down mainly governed by elastic processes (nuclear ene...

A liquid metal ion source (LMIS) was installed on the high-voltage terminal of the 2.5 MV single-stage Van de Graaff accelerator of the Institut de Physique Nucléaire de Lyon and was used to deliver intense MeV energy beams of cluster ions. After acceleration, the ions produced from an eutectic Au–Si alloy were mass-selected by means of a magnetic...

For the first time we show that single crystalline silicon is sensitive to collective electronic excitations. Irradiations with C₆₀ clusters accelerated in the 10 MeV range induce the formation of amorphous latent tracks in this material

The luminescence of during and irradiation was measured in the 190 - 820 nm wavelength range. The luminescence evolution with the ion fluence exhibits two behaviours : (i) at low fluence, the amount of centres increases; (ii) at high fluences, these defects are completely (F centres) or partially ( centres) annihilated. This phenomenon results from...

The effects of alpha post-bombardment on the dissolution and reprecipitation of carbonitrides present in N2+-implanted 1020 low-C steel are investigated. The characterisation of the precipitates is done via conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy. The authors' results show that the irradiation of the sample with low-fluence He+ ions produces dis...

Silicon targets of (1 0 0) orientation were prepared for transmission electron microscopy observations and then irradiated with either 30 MeV C602+ or 40 MeV C603+ at normal incidence. All the irradiations were performed at room temperature, up to fluences of a few 109 clusters cm−2. The incident electronic stopping powers were 48 and 57 keV nm−1 f...

Sapphire (α-Al2O3) substrates were irradiated with either swift heavy ions (208Pb and 238U) or C60 clusters at various fluences. After thin gold films deposition these samples were submitted to thermal treatments in a temperature ranging from 300°C to 800°C. Scanning electron microscopy observations show that the pre-damage enhances strongly the go...

Single crystals of α-Al2O3 were irradiated at room temperature with C60 clusters at normal and grazing incidences. The extent of the induced damage was determined using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in channeling geometry (RBS-C). A damage cross-section of 3.1×10−12 cm2 was obtained for the highest electronic stopping power (76.2 keV nm−1)...

Single crystals of Al2O3 and LiNbO3 were bombarded at room temperature with either GeV ions (up to 238U) or MeV carbon clusters (up to C60). Depending on the irradiation conditions, the electronic stopping power Se ranged from 3 to 76keV nm-1. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry in Channeling geometry (RBS-C) evidenced lattice disorder at the sa...

Single crystals of LiNbO3 (with y-cut orientation) were irradiated at the ARAMIS tandem using two different ions (35Cl and 79Br) accelerated in the few MeV energy range. All the irradiations were performed at room temperature, with fluences extending from 1012 to 1.2 × 1013 ion cm-2. The damage resulting from these irradiations was characterized by...

Two double aluminum implantations at room temperature were performed in two p-type epitaxial 6H-SiC wafers, with a maximum energy of 320 keV and a total fluence of 1.6*1015cm-2. The two samples were then annealed in a rf furnace at 1700°C during 30 minutes, one with a SiC plate inside the reactor and the other without. RBS/C spectra were recorded o...

Single crystals of α-Al2O3 were irradiated with 20-MeV fullerene beams in a fluence range from 1.0×1010 to 2.2×1011 C60+ cm-2. The cluster electronic stopping power (dE/dx)e was approximately 62keV nm-1. Two complementary techniques were employed to assess the modifications induced by these irradiations: Rutherford-backscattering spectrometry in ch...

Aluminium ions were implanted at room temperature into n-type 6H-SiC single crystals. In order to obtain a quasi rectangular atom distribution over approximately 0.5 μm, two successive implantations were performed up to a maximum energy of 320 keV and a total fluence of 1.6 × 1015 ions cm−2. The samples were then annealed under nitrogen in a rf fur...

Single crystals of α-Al2O3 were irradiated with 238U ions using two different energies: 3.4 MeV/u and 1.7 MeV/u. The irradiations were performed at a temperature of ≈ 80 K, with fluences ranging from 1.2 × 1012 to 2.5 × 1012 ions cm−2. After irradiation, thin gold films were deposited on the sapphire surfaces by using a sputtering method. Subsequen...

Single crystals of LiNbO3 (Y-cut orientation) were irradiated at room temperature with 3 MeV C6+ and 2.4 MeV C8+ clusters provided by CSNSM “ARAMIS” accelerator. The electronic stopping power was about 6.5 keV nm−1 in both cases. The fluences extended from 1010 to 4 × 1012 C6+ or C8+ cm−2. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry in Channeling geomet...

Single crystals of magnesium oxide containing nanoprecipitates of sodium were bombarded with swift ions (∼GeV-Pb, U) or cluster beams (∼20 MeV-C60) to study the phase change induced by electronic processes at high stopping power (≳10 keV/nm). The sodium precipitates and the defect creation were characterized by optical absorption and transmission e...

MgO single crystals containing Na metallic precipitates were irradiated with swift heavy ions. Chemical etching of the samples allows in-depth analysis by optical absorption and channeling Rutherford backscattering spectroscopies. The numerous defects observed in the MgO matrix after irradiation near the surface are shown to arise from ionization p...

The modifications in the chemical and physical properties of Er+-implanted LiNbO3 were determined by Channeling Rutherford Backscattering (RBS-C) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Thermal treatments performed in the temperature range 900–1100 °C for 2 h have efficiently induced both the recrystallization of the host lattice and erbium dif...

The influence of the damage induced by GeV nickel ion irradiations on europium diffusion in LiNbO3 single crystals was investigated. For this purpose, 10.8 MeV/u 58Ni ion irradiations were performed at room temperature in LiNbO3 samples at fluences in the range 2.0 × 1011–1.2 × 1012ions cm−2. The damage resulting from these irradiations depends on...

Single crystals of LiNbO3 (Y-cut orientation) have been irradiated at GANIL using different ions (112Sn, 155Gd and 238U) accelerated in the GeV range. All the irradiations were performed at room temperature, with fluences extending from 1010 to 1012 ions cm−2. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in channeling geometry (RBS-C) was employed to inv...

Barium (Ba2+) ions of 280 and 30 keV energies were implanted at room temperature in TiO2 rutile single crystals with a total fluence of 1.2 × 1017ions cm−2 and subsequently thermally annealed up to 1150°C in O2 flow or in air during 1 h. Some samples were post-implanted with oxygen (O+) ions of 45 and 30 keV energies. The annealing effects in the i...

Single crystals of LiNbO3 with y- and z-cut orientations were irradiated at GANIL with 3.37 MeV/amu 238U ions at a fluence ranging from 1.0 × 1011 to 4.0 × 1011 ions.cm-2. The damage resulting from these irradiations at high electronic stopping powers (> 10 KeV/nm) consists mainly of amorphous tracks. After irradiation the samples were implanted wi...

Single crystals of lithium niobate were implanted at room temperature with 20 keV protons at fluences ranging from 5 × 10 H/cm to 2 × 10 H/cm. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry in channeling geometry (RBS-C) performed at three beam energies (1, 1.5, and 2 MeV) and subsequent analysis of the energy dependence of the dechanneling cross section e...

Single crystal of lithium iodate (Z-cut samples) were implanted at room temperature with Eu ions at 150 kev with a fluence of 5.10 ions.cm. The oxidation states of the cations have been determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XPS spectra clearly reveal only europium in Eu along the depth profile analysis.

The influence of the crystallographic orientation of the surface on ion implantation damage was studied in MgO single crystals. For this purpose, rare gas ions (150 keV-argon) or reactive ions (150 keV-niobium) were implanted at room temperature in (100) and (110) MgO surfaces at a fluence of 5.1016 ions.cm-2. With the mean of Rutherford Backscatte...

Single crystals of LiNbO3 (Y-cut orientation) have been irradiated at GANIL with 238U ions using three different energies: 0.84, 2.01 and 2.73 MeV/a. All the irradiations were performed at room temperature, up to a fluence of 4 × 1011 ions.cm-2. The lattice disorder resulting from the high electronic stopping power (between 28 and 40 keV/nm) has be...

Single crystals of alpha-Al2O3 were irradiated at Ganil with 238U ions using four different energies: 0.48, 1.72, 2.78, and 3.40 MeV/u. All the irradiations were performed at a temperature of ~=80 K, with fluences extending from 1.2×1012 to 2.5×1012 ions cm-2. The samples were characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in channeling ge...

The morphological, plastic, and elastic strains in Na+-implanted MgO have been determined by measuring the swelling of the surface with a profilometer and in-plane lattice parameters by x-ray diffraction at glancing incidence. The high value of the stress (∼9 GPa) is related to a high dislocation density with very low mobility leading to weak plast...

Single crystals of lithium niobate (LiNbO 3 ) with y‐cut orientation were irradiated at GANIL with 5.17 MeV/amu ¹⁵⁵Gd ions at a fluence ranging from 1.5×10¹¹ to 6.0×10¹¹ ions cm^-2. After irradiation the samples were implanted with europium ions of 70 keV energy at a fixed fluence of 5×10¹⁶ ions...

Europium ions of 70 keV energy were implanted at room temperature in SrTiO3 single crystals with a fluence of 5 × 1016 ions cm−2. The damage and the site locations of cations in the implanted layer were investigated by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in channeling geometry. The oxidation states of the involved atomic species along the Eu dis...

Barium ions of 140 keV energy were implanted at room temperature in TiO2 (rutile) with a fluence of 10(exp 17) ions cm(exp -2). Isochronal heat treatments were carried out in air at 1000, 1100 and 1150 C for 1 h. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) in channeling geometry, X-ray diffraction at glancing incidence and X-ray photoemission spec...

Single crystals of Al2O3 samples were irradiated at GANIL with 4.32 MeV/amu 208Pb ions to fluences of 4 × 1011 and 8 × 1011 ions cm−2 and with 2.78 MeV/amu 238U ions to fluences of 1.2 × 1012 and 2.1 × 1012 ions cm−2 at a temperature of 77 K. Before irradiation the samples were implanted with 101657Fe ions cm−2 at 110 keV and annealed at 1673 K for...

Single crystals of LiNbO3 with two different orientations (Y-cut and Z-cut) have been irradiated at GANIL with 5.17 MeV/amu 155Gd ions at room temperature. The fluence extended from 1.5 × 1011 to 1.2 × 1012 ions cm-2. The damage resulting from the high electronic stopping power (up to 30 keV/nm) has been characterized by both Rutherford backscatter...

α-Al2O3 single crystals were bombarded with MeV xenon ions from 1015 to 1017 ions cm−2 and GeV uranium ions from 1011 to 1013 ions cm−2 to study the surface swelling of sapphire at 77 and 300 K due to atomic collision processes (Xe) and electronic energy loss processes in the 20–45 keV/nm regime (U). The induced damage was studied by channeling Rut...

Fe-Al multilayers have been mixed with Xe+ ions at high temperatures. The composition depth profiles have been analyzed by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). It is shown that SIMS reveals the Al-rich compound formation inside the initial Al layers, and that this point cannot be questioned by exaltation effect on Fe+ or Al+ ion intensities. Pha...

Fe-Al multilayers have been mixed with XePLU ions at high temperatures. THe compositions depth profiles have been analyzed by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). It is shown that SIMS reveals the Al-rich compound formation inside the initial Al layers, and that this point cannot be questioned by exaltation effect on Fe+ or Al+ ion intensities....

LiNbO3 single crystals were implanted at room temperature with Eu+ ions at 70 keV with fluence ranging from 0.5 to 5 × 1016 ions · cm−2. The damage in the implanted layer has been investigated by Channeling Rutherford Backscattering (RBS-C), and the oxidation states of the cations have been determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Foll...

Single crystals of TiO2 rutile were implanted at 300 K with niobium ions at fluences in the range 5×1013 to 2.5×1017 ions cm−2, corresponding to a mean local concentration of 6×1018 to 3×1022 Nbcm−3, respectively. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) in channeling geometry and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) have been performed to de...

Single crystals of Al2O3 have been irradiated at GANIL with 3.5 MeV/amu Pb ions, at a temperature of ≌ 8 K. The fluence range extended from 4×1011 to 1.2×1012 ions cm−2. The effects of high electronic excitation induced in the samples have been characterized by Rutherford backscattering on channeling (RBS) in conjunction with optical absorption mea...

The change in mechanical properties induced by ionizing radiation in pre-implanted MgO single crystals has been investigated by surface-strain measurements and defect characterization. Optically polished, oriented MgO substrates were implanted with 500 keV Xe+ ions followed by 2 MeV He+ ion bombardment at fluences up to 1.5 × 1016 He+/cm2. In order...

This paper examines the effects of niobium ion implantation on the surface mechanical properties of single crystal and polycrystalline α-alumina. A structural transformation can be produced in sapphire implanted with a high fluence of niobium ions which leads to the formation of an amorphous layer of alumina containing nanoclusters of metallic niob...

The atomic redistribution and the structural change have been determined in an amorphous Fe-Ti alloy submitted to ${\mathrm{Xe}}^{+}$ bombardment. It is shown that the region of peak damage becomes enriched with Ti whereas the subsurface region is Ti depleted and partially recrystallized at the fluence of 1.8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^...

Niobium implantations were performed in α-Al2O3 single crystals to study the chemical interactions between the implanted species and the oxide and to study the microstructural evolution of the implanted layer. The investigation focused on both as-implanted and the oxide and to study the microstructural evolution of the implanted layer. The investig...