Study on structural recovery of graphite irradiated with swift heavy ions at high temperature

Thin graphite foils bombarded with an intense high-energy (8.6 MeV/u) gold beam reaching fluences up to 1 x 10(15) ions/cm(2) lead to swelling and electrical resistivity changes. As shown earlier, these effects are diminished with increasing irradiation temperature. The work reported here extends the investigation of beam induced changes of these samples by structural analysis using synchrotron X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope. A nearly complete recovery from swelling at irradiation temperatures above about 1500 degrees C is identified. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved