Ion Beam Mixing Effects Induced in the Latent Tracks of Swift Heavy Ions in a Fe/Si Multilayer

By following the experimental results recently published about electronic-energy-deposition-induced effects in metallic materials, a mixing effect is observed in an Fe/Si multilayer irradiated by 650 MeV uranium ions. Mössbauer spectroscopy shows that, after a fluence as low as 10 13 cm -2 , an Fe 4.5 nm/Si 3.5 nm multilayer has been made almost homogeneous by ion mixing. On electron micrographs, at very low fluence, latent tracks are observed where the magnetic properties are drastically modified from the previous crystalline ferromagnetic state.