Effect of intense electron and ion irradiation on optical absorption of boron carbide thin films

The energetic characteristics of growth and radiation defects (RDs) in boron carbide films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering on a steel substrate and irradiated with powerful electron and pulsed ion beams were investigated. The relationship between the characteristics of point RDs, the degree of distortion of the electronic structure and the characteristics of interband and exponential absorption was established. The absorption spectra of the films were due to electronic transitions between the defects energy states localized in the band gap and interband transitions. The stability of characteristics to electron irradiation was due to the high concentration of growth defects, distributed along the boundaries between the structural fragments. Short-pulse implantation of carbon ions stimulates partial annealing of intrinsic RDs and their redistribution and formation of thermally stable complexes from defects. Boron carbide films significantly exceed the radiation resistance of sodium calcium silicate glass, but are slightly inferior to the films of aluminum and silicon nitrides, obtained by magnetron deposition.