Effect of sputtering in Xe ion irradiated yttria-stabilized zirconia

Fully stabilized zirconia is known as a radiation resistant material. The objective of many experiments on zirconia has been to test the susceptibility of this material to amorphization. Because zirconia exhibits high radiation tolerance, this has made very high fluence ion irradiation experiments a necessity and so, additional irradiation-induced effects such as surface sputtering become important. In this paper, we present results from 340 keV Xe++ irradiations of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) to fluences ranging from 1×1015 to 1.5×1021 ions/m2. No amorphization of YSZ was observed after irradiation to even the highest ion fluence. To assess sputtering effects at high fluence, an analytical model was developed, using ion range and damage distributions calculated using Monte Carlo simulations for ion–solid interactions. Analysis results and experimental data revealed that at high fluences, the implanted ion and damage distribution profiles are significantly modified by sputtering.