Optical spectroscopy and scanning near-field optical microscopy on HE+ irradiated lithium fluoride crystals

He' ions wth an energy of 1 5 2 MeV and doses rangmg fiom 6 x lOI3 to 2 5 x loi6 ions/cm2 were used to produce pnmary and aggregate defects in Lithium Fluonde (LiF) crystals The optical properties of the implanted samples and their dependence on ion dose were studied by means of optical absorption spectroscopy and Scanning Near field Ophcal Microscopy (SNOM) The results show the formahon for high doses of macrodefects such as lithium intnnsic nano aggregates that could play an important role in the realisahon of non linear optical waveguides