Dose dependence of helium bubble formation in nano-engineered SiC at 700 °C

Journal Article · Wed Feb 03 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.01.029· OSTI ID:1267053

Chen, Chien -Hung ^[1]; Zhang, Yanwen ^[2]; Wang, Yongqiang ^[3]; Crespillo, Miguel L. ^[1]; Fontana, Cristiano L. ^[4]; Graham, Joseph T. ^[5]; Duscher, Gerd ^[1]; Shannon, Steven C. ^[6]; Weber, William J. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
3. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
4. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
5. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO (United States)
6. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)

Knowledge of radiation-induced helium bubble nucleation and growth in SiC is essential for applications in fusion and fission environments. Here we report the evolution of microstructure in nano-engineered (NE) 3C SiC, pre-implanted with helium, under heavy ion irradiation at 700 °C up to doses of 30 displacements per atom (dpa). Elastic recoil detection analysis confirms that the as-implanted helium depth profile does not change under irradiation to 30 dpa at 700 °C. While the helium bubble size distribution becomes narrower with increasing dose, the average size of bubbles remains unchanged and the density of bubbles increases somewhat with dose. These results are consistent with a long helium bubble incubation process under continued irradiation at 700 °C up to 30 dpa, similar to that reported under dual and triple beam irradiation at much higher temperatures. The formation of bubbles at this low temperature is enhanced by the nano-layered stacking fault structure in the NE SiC, which enhances point defect mobility parallel to the stacking faults. Here, this stacking fault structure is stable at 700 °C up to 30 dpa and suppresses the formation of dislocation loops normally observed under these irradiation conditions.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Work for Others (WFO); USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1267053
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1359406
• Journal Information: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 472; ISSN 0022-3115
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
SiC
helium
high temperature
irradiation effects
TEM
ERDA