Atomic modeling of irradiation-induced hardening

We review recent results obtained by Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations on the elementary interaction mechanisms between dislocations and irradiation defects, with the aim to obtain a fundamental understanding of plasticity in irradiated metals. The reactions obtained included defect shear, drag and absorption in edge and screw dislocations. We present the state of the art in both FCC and BCC metals and discuss the challenges faced by MD simulations, in particular in BCC metals in order to realistically simulate the thermally-activated glide of screw dislocations in the presence of obstacles. To cite this article: D. Rodney, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Nucleation problems in metallurgy of the solid state: recent developments and open questions

Nucleation processes play a key role in the microstructure evolution of metallic alloys during thermomechanical treatments. These processes can involve phase transformations (such as precipitation) and structural instabilities (such as recrystallisation). Although the word ‘nucleation’ is used in both cases, the situation is profoundly different for precipitation and for recrystallisation on which this article is focussed. In the case of precipitation, species are conserved and the underlying physics is stochastic fluctuations, allowing the apparition of critical germs of the new phase. In the case of recrystallisation, the underlying physical phenomenon is the progressive growth of subgrain structures leading to an unstable configuration, allowing a dislocation free grain to grow at the expense of a dislocated one. The two cases require different types of modelling which are presented in the article. To cite this article: Y. Bréchet, G. Martin, C. R. Physique 7 (2006).     

Helium and point defect accumulation: (i) microstructure and mechanical behaviour

Ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steels are good candidate structural materials for the future fusion reactors and spallation sources. However, irradiation of steels is known to produce hardening, loss of ductility, shift in ductile to brittle transition temperature (DBTT) and reduction of fracture toughness and creep resistance starting at low doses. Helium (He), produced by transmutation during the irradiation, also impacts mechanical properties. Numerous experimental and theoretical studies on the evolution of the microstructure of steels under irradiation have been conducted until now. We review the effect of irradiation-induced point defects and in particular of He on the mechanical properties of F/M steels. To cite this article: R. Schäublin et al., C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Holographic dynamics of unstable branes in AdS

The gauge theory dual to the decay of an unstable D-particle in AdS is analysed in terms of coherent states. We discuss in detail how to count the number of particles in the decay product. We find, in agreement with the analysis in flat space, that the emission amplitude is suppressed as the mass of the radiated particles increases. To cite this article: M. Zamaklar, K. Peeters, C. R. Physique 5 (2004).

Résumé

La théorie de jauge duale à la désintégration de D-particules instables dans AdS est analysée en termes d'état cohérents. Nous discutons en détails le comptage du nombre de particule dans le produit de désintégration. Nous trouvons, en accord avec l'analyse en espace plat, que le taux d'émission est supprimé quand la masse de la particule augmente. Pour citer cet article : M. Zamaklar, K. Peeters, C. R. Physique 5 (2004).     

Magnetization dynamics: ultra-fast and ultra-small

Ultrafast magnetic processes are of great scientific interest but also form the basis of high density magnetic recording applications. We demonstrate the uniqueness of time resolved, high resolution magnetic X-ray microscopy, and show that the motion of a magnetic vortex core can be imaged. The vortex core direction is hidden to most experimental techniques, but has a decisive influence on the dynamics of the magnetic structure.We imaged the switching of a ferromagnetic nanostructure by a spin polarized current pulse using time resolved X-ray microscopy. As opposed to the common uniform switching process due to Néel and Stoner–Wohlfarth, the magnetization in spin injection devices does not switch uniformly, but involves the motion of a magnetic vortex. To cite this article: Y. Acremann, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Jules Horowitz Reactor: a high performance material testing reactor

The physical modelling of materials' behaviour under severe conditions is an indispensable element for developing future fission and fusion systems: screening, design, optimisation, processing, licensing, and lifetime assessment of a new generation of structure materials and fuels, which will withstand high fast neutron flux at high in-service temperatures with the production of elements like helium and hydrogen.JANNUS and other analytical experimental tools are developed for this objective. However, a purely analytical approach is not sufficient: there is a need for flexible experiments integrating higher scales and coupled phenomena and offering high quality measurements; these experiments are performed in material testing reactors (MTR). Moreover, complementary representative experiments are usually performed in prototypes or dedicated facilities such as IFMIF for fusion. Only such a consistent set of tools operating on a wide range of scales, can provide an actual prediction capability. A program such as the development of silicon carbide composites (600–1200 °C) illustrates this multiscale strategy.Facing the long term needs of experimental irradiations and the ageing of present MTRs, it was thought necessary to implement a new generation high performance MTR in Europe for supporting existing and future nuclear reactors. The Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) project copes with this context. It is funded by an international consortium and will start operation in 2014. JHR will provide improved performances such as high neutron flux (10¹⁵ n/cm²/s above 0.1 MeV) in representative environments (coolant, pressure, temperature) with online monitoring of experimental parameters (including stress and strain control). Experimental devices designing, such as high dpa and small thermal gradients experiments, is now a key objective requiring a broad collaboration to put together present scientific state of art, end-users requirements and advanced instrumentation. To cite this article: D. Iracane et al., C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

High-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering to study the high-frequency atomic dynamics of disordered systems

The use of momentum-resolved inelastic x-ray scattering with meV energy resolution to study the high-frequency atomic dynamics in disordered systems is here reviewed. The typical realization of this experiment is described together with some common models used to interpret the measured spectra and to extract parameters of interest for the investigation of disordered systems. With the help of some selected examples, the present status of the field is discussed. Particular attention is given to those results which are still open for discussion or controversial, and which will require further development of the technique to be fully solved. Such an instrumental development seems nowadays possible at the light of recently proposed schemes for advanced inelastic x-ray scattering spectrometers. To cite this article: G. Monaco, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

FALCON: multi-object AO

FALCON is a wide-field, multi-object integral field spectrograph equipped with adaptive optics. It is dedicated to the study of the formation process of primordial galaxies. The AO system uses natural guide stars, and the high sky coverage required for these studies is obtained using tomographic techniques for the wavefront analysis. The structure of the OA system is very new, and particularly suited for a future implementation on extremely large telescopes. To cite this article: E. Gendron et al., C. R. Physique 6 (2005).     

Modelling of long term kinetic evolution: a fruitful relationship between experiment and theoretical development

Recent developments in multi-scale modelling, based on atomic scale calculations, are leading to a growing conviction that modelling will soon be used to design material components for nuclear reactors. In this article we discuss this assumption on the basis of the relationship between experimental studies and theoretical calculations of the microstructural evolution of materials under irradiation. In the first part of the paper, the available numerical models for long term microstructural evolutions are briefly reviewed. The experimental methods are presented in a second part. In the third part, several examples of fruitful relationships between modelling and experiments are discussed. To cite this article: A. Barbu, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Basic results in vacuum statistics

This is a review of recent work on constructing and finding statistics of string theory vacua, done in collaboration with Frederik Denef, Bogdan Florea, Bernard Shiffman and Steve Zelditch. To cite this article: M.R. Douglas, C. R. Physique 5 (2004).

Résumé

Cet article est une revue de travaux récents sur la construction et découverte de statistiques des vides de théories des cordes, réalisée en collaboration avec Frederik Denef, Bogdan Florea, Bernard Shiffman et Steve Zelditch. Pour citer cet article : M.R. Douglas, C. R. Physique 5 (2004).     

A review of X-ray intensity fluctuation spectroscopy

This article reviews the literature on X-ray fluctuation intensity spectroscopy or, as it is often called, X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. It highlights measurements using different types of diffuse scattering. To cite this article: M. Sutton, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

The Fe–Cr system: atomistic modelling of thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transformations

To understand the behaviour of irradiated defects and kinetic pathways of micro-structural evolution in Fe–Cr alloys, we use a combination of density functional theory with statistical approaches involving cluster expansions and Monte Carlo simulations. A lowest negative mixing enthalpy is found at 6.25% Cr that is consistent with our DFT prediction of an ordered Fe₁₅Cr structure. At 50% Cr, it is found that the predicted enthalpy of formation is 4 times smaller than that calculated by the CPA approach. Thermodynamic and precipitation properties are then discussed in term of segregation between the Fe₁₅Cr and α^′-Cr phases and of vacancy-mediated kMC simulation. To cite this article: D. Nguyen-Manh et al., C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Radiation effects in concentrated alloys and compounds: equilibrium and kinetics of driven systems

What organization of condensed matter does resist irradiation, as a function of irradiation conditions? How to characterize the latter? We survey the advances in the field during the past three decades, when irradiation effects reduce to nuclear collisions. While in simple cases (structure defined by a scalar order parameter) one may define a stochastic potential, which yields the stationary states of the compounds under irradiation and their respective stability, in more general cases, we are left with brute force atomistic simulations to explore materials' behaviour as a function of irradiation conditions. Special attention is given to the kinetics of concentration fields under irradiation, a question with several practical implications. We conclude that irradiation conditions are best defined by three parameters: the cascade features (number of displacements and replacements, length of replacement sequences, …), the frequency of cascade occurrence, and the cumulated dose. We suggest cascade features be named ‘(elementary) dose’ and the cascade occurrence frequency ‘dose rate’. To cite this article: G. Martin, P. Bellon, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Introduction to the physics of nucleation

In this introductory article, I review the theory of nucleation by thermal activation and by quantum tunneling. The effect of heterogeneous nucleation at surfaces is discussed and a brief survey of experimental techniques is given. To cite this article: H.J. Maris, C. R. Physique 7 (2006).     

Cosmic superstrings II

Modern string theory provides a rich array of objects which could potentially appear as cosmic strings in our observable four-dimensional universe. However, there are many possible decay modes which would prevent the appearance of such strings. We investigate the conditions under which metastable strings can exist, and we find that such strings are present in many models. Hence cosmic strings give a potentially large window into string physics. To cite this article: E.J. Copeland et al., C. R. Physique 5 (2004).

Résumé

La théorie moderne des supercordes fournit un choix riche d'objets qui pourraient potentiellement apparaître en tant que cordes cosmiques dans notre univers quadridimensionnel observable. Cependant, il y a beaucoup de modes possibles de désintégration qui empêcheraient l'apparition de telles cordes. Nous étudions les conditions dans lesquelles des cordes métastables peuvent exister, et nous constatons que de telles cordes sont présentes dans beaucoup de modèles. Par conséquent les cordes cosmiques ouvrent une fenêtre potentiellement grande vers la physique des supercordes. Pour citer cet article : E.J. Copeland et al., C. R. Physique 5 (2004).     

Radiation aging of nonmetallic materials: specific aspects

Under irradiation, all materials experience various forms of structural evolution, from the simplest, associated with point defect creation and accumulation, to complex phase changes, either towards equilibrium or nonequilibrium structures. In nonmetallic ceramics the same processes are known or probable; however, the nature of bonding, partly ionic and partly covalent, as well as the complexity associated with the long range character of the Coulomb interaction, have long posed great difficulties in defect and aging studies under irradiation. Our aim here is to review the current state of knowledge, stressing the specific characteristics of nonmetallic materials, from primary defect creation to collective behavior, with respect to both experimental facts as well as to modeling perspectives. Given the broad field covered, we will illustrate the problem by choosing a few model materials, mostly oxides, in which the whole spectrum of phenomena has been handled. We will begin with threshold energy studies, then go to microstructure formation and evolution, radiation enhanced diffusion results, and lastly to phase changes. To cite this article: Y. Limoge, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

First principles calculations in iron: structure and mobility of defect clusters and defect complexes for kinetic modelling

Predictive simulations of the defect population evolution in materials under or after irradiation can be performed in a multi-scale approach, where the atomistic properties of defects are determined by electronic structure calculations based on the Density Functional Theory and used as input for kinetic simulations covering macroscopic time and length scales. Recent advances obtained in iron are presented. The determination of the 3D migration of self-interstitial atoms instead of a fast one-dimensional glide induced an overall revision of the widely accepted picture of radiation damage predicted by previously existing empirical potentials. A coupled ab initio and mesoscopic kinetic Monte Carlo simulation provided strong evidence to clarify controversial interpretations of electrical resistivity recovery experiments concerning the mobility of vacancies, self-interstitial atoms, and their clusters. The results on the dissolution and migration properties of helium in α-Fe were used to parameterize Rate Theory models and new inter-atomic potentials, which improved the understanding of fusion reactor materials behavior. Finally, the effects of carbon, present in all steels as the principal hardening element, are also shown. To cite this article: C.C. Fu, F. Willaime, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).