Contribution of Electronic Energy Deposition to the Atomic Cascade Damage in Nanocrystals

International audienceUsing Molecular Dynamics we study the role of electronic excitations in the radiation damage caused by an energetic ion in Ge nanocrystals embedded in amorphous SiO2. The electronic effects are included as heating along the ion path modeled by the thermal spike model. In an ion energy regime where the electronic stopping power is larger than the nuclear, we find that the electronic effects enhance the defect creation significantly. We conclude that the electronic excitations below the track production threshold due to an energetic ion cannot be disregarded as a source of radiation damage