Swift heavy ion effects on DLC-nanotube-diamond thin films

The composites based on a mixture of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and diamond-like-carbon (DLC)-CNT are of great interest due to the potential to achieve unique electronic and optical properties with enhanced mechanical wear resistance. Swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation of such carbon nanostucture composites suggest a way to tune the material's properties via localized structural modifications. We use classical molecular dynamics simulations combined with an inelastic thermal spike model to study the mechanisms of track formation by SHI in DLC-CNT-diamond thin films. We observe a clear increase of content of atoms with sp(2) hybridization compared to the initial structure. When the system reached an equilibrium state after the energy deposition, the track was structurally expanded outwards from the most underdense core. In addition, we found that the track radii are different in different composites, with smaller track radii in pure diamond and larger radii in DLC. Sputtering occurred predominantly from the track center.Peer reviewe