Atomic-scale insights into damage produced by swift heavy ions in polyethylene

Babaev P. Akhmetov F. Gorbunov S. Medvedev N. Rymzhanov R. Voronkov R. Volkov A.E.
December 2023 Springer

Journal of Materials Science
2023 #58 Issue 45 17275 - 17291 pp.

We describe the formation of swift heavy ion tracks in polyethylene (PE) by combining the Monte Carlo code TREKIS, which models electronic excitation in nanometric proximity of the ion trajectory, with the molecular dynamics simulating a response of the atomic system to the excitation. The model predicts circular tracks in amorphous PE but elliptical ones in crystalline PE caused by preferential propagation of excitation along polymer chains during the cooling stage. The obtained track sizes and shapes agree well with the high-resolution transmission microscopy of tracks in PE with colorant. The velocity effect in PE is shown: the track parameters differ for ions with the same linear energy losses but different velocities. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

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P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskij Pr., 53, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
Industrial Focus Group XUV Optics, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, Enschede, 7522 NB, Netherlands
Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, Prague 8, 18221, Czech Republic
Institute of Plasma Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Za Slovankou 3, Prague 8, 18200, Czech Republic
Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Research, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russian Federation
Institute of Nuclear Physics, Almaty, Kazakhstan

P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Industrial Focus Group XUV Optics
Institute of Physics
Institute of Plasma Physics
Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Research
Institute of Nuclear Physics

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