Atomic transport in hot ion tracks

In the present paper we will summarize our recent results on swift heavy ion beam mixing (IBM) of oxide ceramics and compare them with the IBM results which where obtained in the nuclear stopping regime, We will show that the strong mixing observed after high energy irradiation is most likely due to the interdiffusion in the molten ion track. The arguments for such a conclusion are based on the fact, that the track formation threshold in both interface forming materials must be exceeded for effective interdiffusion and, even more, that the estimated diffusion constants compare with liquid rather than solid state diffusion. We will show that the "global thermal spike" model, which was developed but failed for mixing in the nuclear stopping regime can be applied for mixing by electronic stopping. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.