Effect of carbon ion irradiation on Ag diffusion in SiC

Journal Article · Sat Nov 14 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2015.11.017· OSTI ID:1295098

Leng, Bin ^[1]; Ko, Hyunseok ^[2]; Gerczak, Tyler J. ^[2]; Deng, Jie ^[3]; Giordani, Andrew J. ^[4]; Hunter, Jerry L. ^[5]; Morgan, Dane ^[6]; Szlufarska, Izabela ^[6]; Sridharan, Kumar ^[6]

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1. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Engineering Physics Dept.
2. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Material Science Program
3. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Materials Science and Engineering Dept.
4. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States). Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Lab.
5. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States). Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Lab.; Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Materials Science Center
6. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Engineering Physics Dept.; Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Material Science Program; Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Materials Science and Engineering Dept.

Transport of Ag fission product through the silicon-carbide (SiC) diffusion barrier layer in TRISO fuel particles is of considerable interest given the application of this fuel type in high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) and other future reactor concepts. The reactor experiments indicate that radiation may play an important role in release of Ag; however so far the isolated effect of radiation on Ag diffusion has not been investigated in controlled laboratory experiments. In this study, we investigate the diffusion couples of Ag and polycrystalline 3C–SiC, as well as Ag and single crystalline 4H–SiC samples before and after irradiation with C²⁺ ions. The diffusion couple samples were exposed to temperatures of 1500 °C, 1535 °C, and 1569 °C, and the ensuing diffusion profiles were analyzed by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). We found that diffusion coefficients calculated from these measurements indicate that Ag diffusion was greatly enhanced by carbon irradiation due to a combined effect of radiation damage on diffusion and the presence of grain boundaries in polycrystalline SiC samples.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725; 1-2988; AC07-051D14517; 11-2988
• OSTI ID: 1295098
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1252058
• Journal Information: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 471, Issue C; ISSN 0022-3115
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
Implantation
SiC
Diffusion
TRISO
Silver
Silicon carbide