Amorphization and recrystallization of the ABO3 oxides

Single crystals of the ABO₃ phases CaTiO₃, SrTiO₃, BaTiO₃, LiNbO₃, KNbO₃, LiTaO₃, and KTaO₃ were irradiated by 800 keV Kr⁺, Xe⁺, or Ne⁺ ions over the temperature range from 20 to 1100 K. The critical amorphization temperature, T_c, above which radiation-induced amorphization does not occur varied from approximately 450 K for the titanate compositions to more than 850 K for the tantalates. While the absolute ranking of increasing critical amorphization temperatures could not be explained by any simple physical parameter associated with the ABO₃ oxides, within each chemical group defined by the B-site cation (i.e., within the titanates, niobates, and tantalates), T_c tends to increase with increasing mass of the A-site cation. T_c was lower for the Ne⁺ irradiations as compared to Kr⁺, but it was approximately the same for the irradiations with Kr⁺ or Xe⁺. Thermal recrystallization experiments were performed on the ion-beam-amorphized thin sections in situ in the transmission electron microscope (TEM). In the high vacuum environment of the microscope, the titanates recrystallized epitaxially from the thick areas of the TEM specimens at temperatures of 800–850 K. The niobates and tantalates did not recrystallize epitaxially, but instead, new crystals nucleated and grew in the amorphous region in the temperature range 825–925 K. These new crystallites apparently retain some ‘memory' of the original crystal orientation prior to ion-beam amorphization.