Formation process of CuCl nano-particles in silica glass by ion implantation

Abstract The formation process of CuCl crystals has been studied in (3 MeV 6 × 10 16 Cl 2+ ions/cm 2  + 3 MeV 6 × 10 16 Cu 2+ ions/cm 2 )-implanted silica glass by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. It was found from X-ray absorption spectroscopy that Cu atoms were mainly coordinated by oxygen atoms in as-implanted glass. Heat-treatment at 600°C caused the formation of Cu–Cl bonds and heat-treatment at 1000°C caused the formation of CuCl crystals in silica. It was deduced that the migration of Cl atoms is a rate-determining step for the formation of CuCl crystal, on the basis of the conventional precipitation model.