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Single crystals of lithium niobate (LiNbO3) with y‐cut orientation were irradiated at GANIL with 5.17 MeV/amu 155Gd ions at a fluence ranging from 1.5×1011 to 6.0×1011 ions cm−2. After irradiation the samples were implanted with europium ions of 70 keV energy at a fixed fluence of 5×1016 ions cm−2. Both irradiations and implantations were performed at room temperature. Thermal treatments in air, in the range 300–1100 °C, were applied to investigate the influence of the preirradiation damage on the thermal evolution of Eu implanted LiNbO3 crystals. Transmission electron microscopy micrographs exhibit the amorphous track formed by high‐energy irradiations. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry results show that these amorphous tracks enhance the europium diffusion in depth of the LiNbO3. A diffusion coefficient and an activation energy were estimated to be about 4.2×10−15 cm2 s−1 and 0.42 eV, respectively.

We have prepared continuous amorphous antimony thin films by low‐energy cluster beam deposition. Contrary to the antimony films prepared by molecular beam deposition, this new technique allows preparation of continuous amorphous films which are stable at room temperature. This study has been carried out by combining electrical measurements and transmission electron microscopy observations.