Thermal Conductivity Degradation and Microstructural Damage Characterization in Low-Dose Ion Beam-Irradiated 3C-SiC

This study assesses the impact of low-dose and low-temperature irradiation on the properties of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC). 3C-SiC was irradiated with Kr ions to different fluences at 420 K (147 °C). Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the impact of irradiation-induced defects on vibrational modes and time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) was used to measure thermal conductivity. We observe a noticeable reduction in thermal conductivity with increasing fluence. Analysis of Raman spectra reveals the longitudinal optical (LO) and transverse optical (TO) modes with noticeable peak broadening of LO mode with increasing dosage. We also notice a decrease of ratio of peak intensities of LO and TO modes in irradiated samples. We observe a correlation between the thermal conductivity reduction and the decrease in the peak intensity ratio and attribute this to the accumulation of charged vacancy defects.