An ion channeling study of NbO crystals

Abstract

Abstract Angular-yield curves for the channeling of 1-MeV deuterons in NbO crystals are calculated for three major axial directions. The calculations are based on the continuum approximation with the assumption of the statistical equilibrium of ion flux in the crystal; thermal vibration of atoms in string is taken into account in the calculation of the continuum potentials. There exist several types of atomic strings in a given direction of NbO; in the [100] direction, for example, Nb strings, O strings and Nb-O strings. The presence of such different types of strings with different strengths gives rise to the appearance of a knick or a shoulder in the angular-yield curves. The calculated curves are in reasonable agreements with those of experimental ones reported in a previous paper, except for oxygen in the [100] direction. The discrepancy is interpreted in terms of the anisotropic thermal vibration of oxygen atoms.