Systematic research on the response of crystal materials to the deposition of irradiation energy to electrons and atomic nuclei has attracted considerable attention since it is fundamental to understanding the behavior of various materials in natural and manmade radiation environments. This work examines and compares track formation in LiTaO₃ induced by separate and combined effects of electronic excitation and nuclear collision. Under 0.71–6.17 MeV/u ion irradiation with electronic energy loss ranging from 6.0 to 13.8 keV/nm, the track damage morphologies evolve from discontinuous to continuous cylindrical zone. Based on the irradiation energy deposited via electronic energy loss, the subsequently induced energy exchange and temperature evolution processes in electron and lattice subsystems are calculated through the inelastic thermal spike model, demonstrating the formation of track damage and relevant thresholds of lattice energy and temperature. Combined with a disorder accumulation model, the damage accumulation in LiTaO₃ produced by nuclear energy loss is also experimentally determined. The damage characterizations and inelastic thermal spike calculations further demonstrate that compared to damage-free LiTaO₃, nuclear-collision-damaged LiTaO₃ presents a more intense thermal spike response to electronic energy loss owing to the decrease in thermal conductivity and increase in electron–phonon coupling, which further enhance track damage.

Irradiating solid materials with energetic ions are extensively used to explore the evolution of structural damage and specific properties in structural and functional materials under natural and artificial radiation environments. Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) technology is revolutionizing the lithium niobate industry and has been widely applied in various fields of photonics, electronics, optoelectronics, etc. Based on 30 MeV ³⁵Cl and ⁴⁰Ar ion irradiation, thermal spike responses and microstructure evolution of LNOI under the action of extreme electronic energy loss are discussed in detail. Combining experimental transmission electron microscopy characterizations with numerical calculations of the inelastic thermal spike model, discontinuous and continuous tracks with a lattice disorder structure in the crystalline LiNbO₃ layer and recrystallization in the amorphous SiO₂ layer are confirmed, and the ionization process via energetic ion irradiation is demonstrated to inherently connect energy exchange and temperature evolution processes in the electron and lattice subsystems of LNOI. According to Rutherford backscattering/channeling spectrometry and the direct impact model, the calculated track damage cross–section is further verified, coinciding with the experimental observations, and the LiNbO₃ layer with a thickness of several hundred nanometers presents track damage behavior similar to that of bulk LiNbO₃. Systematic research into the damage responses of LNOI is conducive to better understanding and predicting radiation effects in multilayer thin film materials under extreme radiation environments, as well as to designing novel multifunctional devices.