Investigation of radiation-induced transformations in thin NbN films by analytical electron microscopy

Abstract

This work demonstrates implementation of low energy electron energy loss technique (EELS) in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to investigate the changes of free electron density at room temperature in ultra-thin NbN films under composite ion beam irradiation up to the deses of ∼3 d.p.a. for nitrogen atoms. It was found the constant value of the free electron density ∼1.6 ·1029 m-3 in this dose range while the irradiated material was characterized by metal type of electrical conductivity.