Study on the damage of Fe₈₀B₁₃Si₇ alloy with different structure by high-intensity pulsed ion beam irradiation

In this study, Fe₈₀B₁₃Si₇ alloys with the same components but different structure, amorphous and crystal, were irradiated by high-intensity pulsed ion beams (HIPIB) with different parameters. The irradiation damage behavior of amorphous and crystal alloy by the HIPIB irradiation was studied. TEM analysis of the cross-section showed that after HIPIB irradiation, the atoms in amorphous alloy were aggregated and migrated, and the arrangement of atoms became uneven, no nanocrystal was observed. For the crystal, Fe₃B, Fe₃Si, Fe₂B and Fe₃C nanocrystals appeared besides the main structure of the α-Fe phase after HIPIB irradiation. A mass of defects appeared in the crystal. Meanwhile, XRD results showed that the lattice parameters of α-Fe phase were decreased. The effect range of the structure and defects of the crystal and the atomic arrangement of amorphous alloy by irradiation were far beyond the incident ion range. After HIPIB irradiation, the surface of amorphous alloy showed no obvious irradiation damage, and the surface of crystal showed wavy undulations. The roughness of both two alloys was increased, and the surface diffusion caused by the thermal driving and ion induction was the main mechanism of surface evolution. The decrease of the surface reflectivity of the amorphous alloy was smaller than that of the crystal.