Both silicon and graphite are radiation hard materials with respect to swift heavy ions like fission fragments and cosmic rays. Recrystallisation is considered to be the main mechanism of prompt damage anneal in these two materials, resulting in negligible amounts of damage produced, even when exposed to high ion fluences. In this work we present evidence that these two materials could be susceptible to swift heavy ion irradiation effects even at low energies. In the case of silicon, ion channeling and electron microscopy measurements reveal significant recovery of pre-existing defects when exposed to a swift heavy ion beam. In the case of graphite, by using ion channeling, Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, we found that the surface of the material is more prone to irradiation damage than the bulk.
Keywords: AFM; RBS/c; Raman spectroscopy; TEM; graphite; ion track; silicon; swift heavy ion.