Mechanism of Electron Beam Induced Oxide Layer Thickening on Iron-Iron Oxide Core-Shell Nanoparticles

Materials exposed to radiation show structural changes and damages, especially in the nanoscale range. The characterizing equipment involving electron beam (e-beam) radiation for a nanosize imaging process, such as a transmission electron microscope, is no exception, in which the most prominent behavior of native oxide layer thickening has been widely studied. In this paper, we describe the physics behind the growth mechanism of the oxide layer in a core-shell iron/iron oxide nanoparticle (NP) under the impact of e-beam radiation. The particles studied were synthesized via a cluster deposition system. Due to the impact of the e-beam, these particles were observed to grow inward and outward resulting in a total increase of NP size. The theory is connected with experimental evidence to reveal the oxide layer thickening of the NP, which is favored and enhanced by vacancy formation, surface oxidation, and diffusion/void nucleation under the impact of a 200 keV e-beam.