Annealing Of Irradiation Defects In Si3n4: Tem Examination

The article presents the first results of the study of structural and morphological features of swift (220 MeV) xenon ion induced defects in polycrystalline Si3N4 during post-irradiation heat treatment. The approximate temperature range of ion track region recrystallization is defined as 300 - 800 °C, at 800 °C complete structural relaxation was observed in the in-situ and ex-situ modes. It was found that the track recovery process, as expected, depends on the grain size and thickness of the sample. For complete recrystallization in both studied modes, a short annealing time was required due to the nature of the initial defects (before heating).