Infrared spectroscopy of ion tracks in amorphous SiO2 and comparison to gamma irradiation induced changes.

Abstract Ion track formation in amorphous SiO 2 was investigated using infrared spectroscopy. For comparison, one set of samples was also irradiated using 1.25 MeV gamma rays. An increase of 1044 cm−1 peak and decrease of 1078 cm−1 peak was observed in all cases. Experimental results were analysed using an analytical thermal spike model and non-standard model parameters were found. This finding is attributed to the amorphous structure of the material. Highlights • Damage kinetics in a-SiO 2 due to swift heavy ion and gamma ray irradiation was measured using infrared spectroscopy. • Ion track cross sections were compared to the predictions of the analytical thermal spike model. • Available literature data on ion tracks in a-SiO 2 was analysed using analytical thermal spike model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]