Characterization of swift heavy ion irradiation damage in ceria

Microstructural changes in CeO2 were examined upon 940 MeV gold ion irradiation. Experimental work, including transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy was combined with classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations adopting a thermal spike model. It was found from the MD simulations that the material CeO2 remained crystalline at the ion tracks despite changes in density. The simulations agreed with the experiments, no change was found in stoichiometry at the ion tracks but atomic disorder was detected.