Thin polycrystalline SiC films grown by the pulsed laser deposition technique were irradiated by 800 keV Ar ions at a dose of 2.6 × 1014 at/cm2.
The SiC films hardness and Young modulus values significantly decreased after irradiation.
Glancing X-ray diffraction investigations showed a partial transformation of the SiC hexagonal phase into the cubic phase.
Smooth PLD grown thin films are excellent for radiation effects investigations using XRR, GIXRD and nanoindentation techniques.