Ionizing vs collisional radiation damage in materials: Separated, competing, and synergistic effects in Ti₃SiC₂

Journal Article · Fri May 10 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Acta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.05.015· OSTI ID:1515651

Hanson, William A. ^[1]; Patel, Maulik K. ^[2]; Crespillo, Miguel L. ^[1]; Zhang, Fuxiang  ^[3]; Zinkle, Steven J. ^[4]; Zhang, Yanwen  ^[4]; Weber, William J.  ^[4]

---

1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Univ. of Liverpool (United Kingdom)
3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
4. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Comparison between intense radiation environments present in nuclear reactors and charged particle beams is necessary for evaluating next generation fission and fusion reactor materials. Yet, these two irradiation environments encompass different proportions of ionizing and collisional phenomena, so exploring the different energy loss pathways is needed for appropriate analysis. Using the candidate M_n+1AX_n phase, Ti₃SiC₂, as a test case, this work separates the effects of electronic and nuclear energy loss during ion irradiation, through a combination of 4 MeV Au, 17 MeV Pt, and 14 MeV Cl ion irradiations to examine the effects independently and systematically recombine them. Nuclear energy loss (elastic collisions) is found to be primarily responsible for the formation of a face-centered-cubic phase with anti-site defects, while intense electronic energy loss (ionization) exacerbates the effect and increases lattice strain. Moreover, these dissipation pathways are found to be competing or synergistic depending on their ionization and collisional ratio.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1515651
• Journal Information: Acta Materialia, Vol. 173, Issue C; ISSN 1359-6454
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
Ion irradiation damage
Ti3SiC2 MAX phase
X-ray diffraction (XRD)
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
Electronic and nuclear energy loss synergy