Modeling disorder induced by low-energy ion implantation and its influence on the electrical resistance in nanometer-thick graphite

Abstract

This study presents a model to elucidate the impact of defect creation on the electrical resistance of nanometer-thick, micrometer-wide graphite samples induced by low-energy ion implantation. Electrically contacted samples of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite were irradiated with N2, Ne, Ar, and Kr ions at 5 keV and the resulting changes in electrical resistance were measured in situ as a function of the ion fluence. Building upon the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami formalism, originally developed for nucleation and growth of defects in solids, this works adapts the framework to describe the influence of ion-induced damage cascades on the electrical resistance of graphite. Moreover, the model allows for an estimate of a lower bound for the electron mean-free path in graphite.