The Damage Analysis of Nd:YVO4 Crystal Implanted by He+ Ions at Low Energy

We report the damage properties of the He⁺ ions implanted Nd:YVO₄ crystal. Implantation was carried out at room temperature by He+ ions at the doses of 1×10¹⁶, 2×10¹⁶, and 4×10¹⁶ ions/cm² with the energy of 200keV. The depth of the damage region is about 0.85μm beneath the surface. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS)/channeling technique was used to investigate the damage profile of ions implanted samples. Low atomic displacement ratio in as-implanted samples indicates a high irradiative resistance of YVO₄ crystal and the dynamic annealing effect of He⁺ ions in the implantation process. Post-implant annealing was performed for all the samples at 200°C and 300°C for an hour, respectively. The height and width of damage peak decreased somewhat after annealing at 200°C. Repairing and re-crystallization of damaged lattice was achieved after annealing at 300°C. Photoluminescence of ion-implanted samples were measured to investigate effect of implantation on fluorescence properties of Nd³⁺. The damage on sample surface was analyzed by optical microscopy (OM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).