Experimental evidence of auxeticity in ion implanted single crystal calcite

We report initial experimental evidence of auxeticity in calcite by ion implanting (1010) oriented single crystalline calcite with Ar⁺ at room temperature using an ion energy of 400 keV and a dose of 1 × 10¹⁴ cm^-2. Lattice compression normal to the substrate surface was observed, which is an atypical result for ion implanted materials. The auxetic behavior is consistent with predictions that indicate auxeticity had been predicted along two crystallographic directions including [1010]. Materials with a positive Poisson's ratio experience lattice expansion normal to the substrate surface when ion implanted, whereas lattice contraction normal to the surface is evidence of auxetic behavior. Triple-axis X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed the auxetic strain state of the implanted calcite substrates. Reciprocal space maps for the symmetric 3030 and asymmetric 1450 reflections revealed that the implanted region was fully strained (pseudomorphic) to the bulk of the substrate, as is typical with implanted single crystals. A symmetric (3030) ω:2θ line scan was used with X-ray dynamical diffraction simulations to model the strain profile and extract the variation of compressive strain as a function of depth normal to the substrate surface. SRIM calculations were performed to obtain a displacement-per-atom profile and implanted Ar⁺ concentration profile. It was found that the strain profile matches the displacement-per-atom profile. This study demonstrated the use of ion implantation and X-ray diffraction methods to probe mechanical properties of materials and to test predictions such as the auxeticity.