journal article·2025-11Open access

Solar Flare Tracks: Unveiling Features and Their Impact on Distinct Lunar Soil Transformations

Yujie Chen, Yan Fang, Xiaoqian Fu, Chenglin Pua, Wentao Yuan, Jiangang Guo, Tianping Ying, Yong Wang, Jun Ding, Suya Liu, Guang Yang, Zhen Chen, Ze Zhang, Fanqi Meng, Lin Gu, Xiaolong Chen, Jinhua Li, Qian Yu

Advanced Functional Materials· Volume 35· Issue 47

Abstract

Abstract Studying crystal defects is essential for understanding a material's origin, evolution, and behavior. Lunar materials can exhibit defects from space weathering including high‐energy ion implantations, which rarely happens on Earth. Investigating the variation in defects’ structure along the direction of implantation and its impact on lunar materials’ transformation is vital, but unfortunately, this remains unclear. Using multi‐scale, 3D characterization of lunar olivine from Chang'e‐5 mission, it is found that solar flare tracks, common lunar defects induced by implantation, have a “near‐linear” structure. These tracks show varied shuffling of oxygen and silicon atoms and vacancies along the traces. Intriguingly, the in situ electron microscopy heating experiments, detected for the first time that the evolution of solar flare tracks leads to the generation of iron nanoparticles and the release of oxygen upon heating. This reaction is rarely observed on Earth and unreported on the Moon before, which produces resources that can be harnessed for future human exploration and the establishment of lunar habitats.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Planetary Science and Exploration · Astro and Planetary Science · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Center of Electron Microscopy and State Key Laboratory of Silicon and Advanced Semiconductor Materials Department of Materials Science and Engineering Zhejiang University Hangzhou 310027 China

Beijing National Center for Electron Microscopy and Laboratory of Advanced Materials School of Materials Science and Engineering Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 China

Department of Mechanical Engineering The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 999077 China

Pico Electron Microscopy Center College of Materials Science and Engineering Hainan University Haikou 570228 China

Research & Development Center for Functional Crystals Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics Institute of Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100190 China

Center for Alloy Innovation and Design State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an 710049 China

Thermo Fisher Scientific Building A, No.2537, Jinke Road. Pudong District Shanghai 201210 China

Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics Institute of Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100190 China

School of Materials Science and Engineering Peking University Beijing 100871 China

Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100029 China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province · Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences · China Postdoctoral Science Foundation · Key Technologies Research and Development Program

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