Point defects patterning in irradiated α-zirconium: numerical study in the framework of the rate theory

We study point defects patterning in irradiated α-zirconium numerically. In our consideration, we exploit reaction-rate theory by taking into account sink density dynamics and a change in internal stress fields due to the presence of defects. Dynamics of defect populations are studied at different irradiation conditions. It is found that point defects patterning is accompanied by a formation of vacancy clusters; their morphology change is governed by irradiation temperature and damage rate. By using statistical analysis of spatially distributed vacancy clusters, it was shown that the characteristic size of these clusters is of several nanometers. Vacancy clusters' occupation densities and distributions over their sizes are studied in detail.     

Modeling self-organization of nano-size vacancy clusters in stochastic systems subjected to irradiation

We study the self-organization of vacancy clusters in irradiated materials under reactor and accelerator conditions. Using a continuum stochastic model we take into account dynamics of point defects and their sinks with elastic interactions of vacancies. Dynamics of vacancy clusters formation is studied analytically and numerically. We have shown a difference in patterning dynamics at irradiation under reactor and accelerator conditions. The external noise influence related to fluctuation in a defect production rate is studied in detail. Applying our approach to pure nickel irradiated under different conditions we have shown that vacancy clusters having a linear size ～eq 6 nm can arrange in a statistical periodic structure with nano-meter range. We have found that the linear size of vacancy clusters at accelerator conditions decreases down to 20%, whereas a period of vacancy clusters reduces to 6.5%.     

A positron beam Doppler broadening analysis of formation and recovery of defects produced by ion irradiation in Fe‒C‒Cu alloys

Mechanisms of radiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel steels remain to be fully understood, particularly the nature of so-called ‘matrix defects’. One possible mechanism is vacancy cluster formation, probably assisted by cascade damage. In order to investigate the effect of copper on the formation and annealing processes of vacancy clusters, ion-irradiated Fe?C and Fe?C?Cu were investigated using a variable energy positron beam. Doppler broadening analysis revealed that vacancy-type defects are produced by ion irradiation and that copper addition reduces the open volume of the defects. Post irradiation annealing suggested the vacancy clusters do not have a substantial role in irradiation hardening.     

强流脉冲电子束作用下金属纯Cu的微观结构状态——空位簇缺陷及表面微孔结构

利用强流脉冲(HCPEB)电子束技术对多晶纯Cu进行了辐照处理,并利用透射电镜对HCPEB诱发的空位簇缺陷进行了表征.实验结果表明,HCPEP辐照金属可在纯Cu表层诱发大量的过饱和空位,并形成四方形空位胞及空位型位错圈和堆垛层错四面体(SFT),HCPEB瞬间的加热和冷却诱发的幅值极大的应力和极高的应变导致的整个原子平面的位移是空位簇缺陷形成的主要原因.此外,扫描电镜分析表明HCPEB辐照可以在纯Cu表面形成高密度、弥散分布和尺寸细小的微孔.过饱和空位或空位团簇沿晶体缺陷向表面扩散、凝聚是表面微孔形成的根     

强流脉冲电子束辐照诱发金属纯镍中的空位簇缺陷

利用强流脉冲电子束(high-current pulsed electron beam,HCPEB)技术对多晶纯Ni进行了辐照处理,采用透射电子显微镜详细分析了辐照诱发的缺陷结构.HCPEB辐照后,纯镍表层积聚了幅值极大的残余应力,沿{111}晶面形成了稠密的位错墙及孪晶结构,另外还形成了大量的包括位错圈、堆垛层错四面体(SFT)及孔洞在内的空位簇缺陷.SFT缺陷的数量远高于其他空位簇缺陷,其周围区域位错密度很低.孔洞缺陷主要出现在SFT密集区域.HCPEB瞬间的加热和冷却诱发的幅值极大的应力和极高的应变 关键词： 强流脉冲电子束 多晶纯Ni 空位簇缺陷 堆垛层错四面体     

质子辐照对纯铝薄膜微观结构的影响

利用透射电子显微镜(TEM)详细分析了不同剂量的质子辐照纯铝薄膜样品的微观结构, 质子的能量E=160 keV.实验表明,质子辐照能够在Al薄膜中诱发空位位错圈,在实验范围内,位错密度随辐照剂量的增加而增加;质子辐照在1×10¹¹—4×10¹¹/mm²范围内随辐照剂量的增加,位错圈数量密度以及位错圈尺寸都随之增加.在较高剂量6×10¹¹/mm²辐照下,位错圈数量密度减小,但其尺寸显著 关键词： 质子辐照 空位簇缺陷 位错圈 微观结构     

Effect of vacancy defect clusters on the optical property of the aluminium filter used for the space solar telescope

We investigate the microstructures of the pure aluminium foil and filter used on the space solar telescope, irradiated by photons with different doses. The vacancy defect clusters induced by proton irradiation in both samples are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, and the density and the size distribution of vacancy defect clusters are determined. Their transmittances are measured before and after irradiating the samples by protons with energy E=100~keV and dose φ =6× 10¹¹/mm². Our experimental results show that the density and the size of vacancy defect clusters increase with the increase of irradiation doses in the irradiated pure aluminium foils. As irradiation dose increases, vacancies incline to form larger defect clusters. In the irradiated filter, a large number of banded void defects are observed at the agglomerate boundary, which results in the degradation of the optical and mechanical performances of the filter after proton irradiation.     

Direct transformation of vacancy voids to stacking fault tetrahedra

Defect accumulation is the principal factor leading to the swelling and embrittlement of materials during irradiation. It is commonly assumed that, once defect clusters nucleate, their structure remains essentially constant while they grow in size. Here, we describe a new mechanism, discovered during accelerated molecular dynamics simulations of vacancy clusters in fcc metals, that involves the direct transformation of a vacancy void to a stacking fault tetrahedron (SFT) through a series of 3D structures. This mechanism is in contrast with the collapse to a 2D Frank loop which then transforms to an SFT. The kinetics of this mechanism are characterized by an extremely large rate prefactor, tens of orders of magnitude larger than is typical of atomic processes in fcc metals.     

Structure of Ion-Implanted Alloys with Long-Range Order in a Field Ion Microscope

In the present review we describe the series of investigations in which field ion microscopy is used to study the structural and phase changes in alloys with long-range order and in pure metals after ion implantation by different gas ions. It is demonstrated that ion implantation induces defects of different types spread to considerable depths from the irradiated surface that exceed many times the estimated ion mean free path. It is established that disordering and generation of various defects can be observed under irradiation of the ordered alloy surfaces. In PdCuAg alloys being supersaturated solid solutions, the irradiation provokes the intermittent decomposition. The structure of defects induced by ion implantation including disordered regions, dislocations, dislocation configurations, dislocation barriers, vacancy clusters, and segregations of one of the components is analyzed. The structure and sizes of these defects inside single cascades of displacements are determined.     

强流脉冲电子束辐照诱发多晶纯铝中的空位缺陷簇结构

利用强流脉冲电子束（HCPEB）技术对多晶纯铝样品进行辐照,采用透射电子显微镜详细分析了辐照诱发的空位簇缺陷.HCPEP辐照后,在辐照表层内形成了大量的四方形空位胞,其间包含位错圈和堆垛层错四面体（SFT）等类型的空位簇缺陷.1次辐照后,空位胞内产生空位型位错圈,5次辐照则主要产生SFT;10次辐照后,空位胞内产生的空位簇缺陷主要是位错圈,局部区域也观察到了SFT缺陷,在产生SFT的附近区域具有很低的位错密度或者几乎无位错出现.HCPEB辐照产生的瞬间加热和冷却诱发了幅值极大且应变速率极高的应力,这一因素 关键词： 强流脉冲电子束 多晶纯铝 空位簇缺陷 堆垛层错四面体     

钨辐射损伤随辐照剂量变化的重离子辐照模拟研究

采用重离子辐照模拟方法和正电子湮没寿命测量技术研究了钨辐射损伤随辐照剂量的变化。20,60和90dpa（每个原子的位移次数）辐照损伤水平的实验结果表明,辐照在钨中产生单空位、双空位、位错和空位团等缺陷;随辐照剂量的增大,单空位、双空位和位错浓度增加,空位团的尺度和浓度都随之增大。Radiation damage in W has been studied as a function of irradiation dose by heavy ion simulation and positron annihilation lifetime measurement. The experimental results of 20, 60 and 90 dpa irradiations illustrate that the mono-and di-vacancies, dislocations and vacancy clusters are produced by the irradiation. The concentrations of the mono-and di-vacancies and dislocations and both the concentration and size of the vacancy clusters or voids all increase with the increasing of the irradiation dose.     

Pattern selection processes and noise induced pattern-forming transitions in periodic systems with transient dynamics

We apply the phase field crystal method for nonequilibrium patterning to stochastic systems with an external source in which transient dynamics is essential. Considering a prototype model for a one-component periodic system subjected to external influence kind of irradiation we study properties of pattern selection processes and external noise induced pattern-forming transitions. These processes are examined by means of the structure function dynamics analysis. Nonequilibrium pattern-forming transitions are analyzed numerically.     

正电子湮没技术在金属和合金研究中的应用进展

评述了正电子没技术（ＰＡＴ）在金属和合金研究中如下几个领域的应用进展：（１）金属间化合物空位形成的焓的测定;（２）淬火、辐照、形变及充氢等引起的缺陷及回复过程;（３）金属和合金的相变;（４）非晶、准晶及纳米晶的研究;（５）ＰＡＴ作为材料无损检测新技术的研究。     

The role of quenched‐in vacancies for the decomposition of aluminium alloys

The very early stages of decomposition during room temperature storage, i.e. just a few minutes after quenching, are investigated by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy for both an AlMgSi alloy and an AlCuMg alloy. It turns out that by freezing the decomposition kinetics during measurements we can detect vacancy–solute atom pairs. The formation of larger solute clusters with structural vacancies is seen by an increase of the mean positron lifetime in the course of storage at room temperature (RT). Earlier findings concerning aging at RT were unable to discover this effect. The detected changes are interpreted in terms of cluster formation. Thus we show that positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) is one of the very few methods to access early stages of decomposition in metallic alloys. Moreover, the lower limit of the concentration of quenched‐in vacancy‐like defects is calculated to be at least 2 × 10^–5 per atom. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Defect studies in small CdTe clusters

We study Cd vacancy formation in prototype stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric CdTe clusters with and without passivation. For certain clusters like Cd₁₃Te₁₆, vacancy leads to severe distortion of the geometry due to propagation of defect. Annealing of the vacancy out of the cluster is observed in all unpassivated clusters. Passivated clusters retain their initial geometry and vacancy induced structural distortions are not seen in these clusters since the defect gets localized. Vacancy also induces intragap states. However, it was observed that the passivation of the dangling bonds created by the vacancy removes the intragap states. In an attempt to have CdTe clusters with extrinsic carriers, we substituted a Cd atom by its adjacent atoms Pd/Ag/In/Sn in these CdTe clusters. Substitutional doping of Cd by metal atoms increases the stability of unpassivated clusters. For certain clusters, metal atom doping leads to a half-metallic character. Pd/Ag-doped clusters are p-type semiconductors whereas In-doped clusters are n-type semiconductors. Sn doping in these clusters does not result in n-type semiconductors.     

Simulating the thermal stability and phase changes of small carbon clusters and fullerenes

The thermal stability, phases and phase changes of small carbon clusters and fullerenes are investigated by constant energy Molecular Dynamics simulations performed over a wide range of temperatures, i.e., from to above the melting point of graphitic carbon. The covalent bonds between the carbon atoms in the clusters are represented by the many-body Tersoff potential. The zero temperature structural characteristics of the clusters, i.e., the minimum energy structures as well as the isomer hierarchy can be rationalized in terms of the interplay between the strain energy (due to the surface curvature) and the number of dangling bonds in the cluster. Minimization of the strain energy opposes the formation of cage structures whereas minimization of the number of dangling bonds favors it. To obtain a reliable picture of the processes experienced by carbon clusters as a function of temperature, both thermal and dynamical characteristics of the clusters are carefully analyzed. We find that higher excitation temperatures are required for producing structural transformations in the minimum energy structures than in higher lying isomers. We have also been able to unambiguously identify some structural changes of the clusters occurring at temperatures well below the melting-like transition. On the other hand, the melting-like transition is interrupted before completion, i.e., the thermal decomposition of the clusters (evaporation or ejection of or units) occurs, from highly excited configurations, before the clusters have fully developed a liquid-like phase. Comparison with experiments on the thermal decomposition of and a discussion of the possible implications of our results on the growth mechanisms leading to the formation of different carbon structures are included. Received: 25 March 1998 / Received in final form: 30 October 1998     

On the origin of atomistic mechanism of rapid diffusion in alkali halide nanoclusters

To elucidate the atomistic diffusion mechanism responsible for the rapid diffusion in alkali halide nano particles, called Spontaneous Mixing, we execute molecular dynamics simulations with empirical models for KCl-KBr, NaCl-NaBr, RbCl-RbBr and KBr-KI. We successfully reproduce essential features of the rapid diffusion phenomenon. It is numerically confirmed that the rate of the diffusion clearly depends on the size and temperature of the clusters, which is consistent with experiments. A quite conspicuous feature is that the surface melting and collective motions of ions are inhibited in alkali halide clusters. This result indicates that the Surface Peeling Mechanism, which is responsible for the spontaneous alloying of binary metals, does not play a dominant role for the spontaneous mixing in alkali halide nanoclusters. Detailed analysis of atomic motion inside the clusters reveals that the Vacancy Mechanism is the most important mechanism for the rapid diffusion in alkali halide clusters. This is also confirmed by evaluation of the vacancy formation energy: the formation energy notably decreases with the cluster size, which makes vacancy formation easier and diffusion more rapid in small alkali halide clusters.     

原子模拟钛中微孔洞的结构及其失效行为

六角金属由于其各向异性等特点,在塑性变形等过程中容易产生形状和构型都相对复杂的点缺陷团簇.这些团簇之间及其与运动位错等缺陷的相互作用直接影响材料的物理和力学性能.然而对相关问题的原子尺度、尤其是空位团簇的演化和微孔洞的形成乃至裂纹形核扩展等的理解还不全面.本文采用激发弛豫算法结合第一原理及原子间作用势,系统考察了钛中的空位团簇构型及不同构型间的相互转变,给出了不同尺寸空位团簇的稳定和亚稳构型、空位团簇合并分解和迁移的激发能垒等关键参数,发现较小的空位团簇形成稳定构型,较大的空位团簇呈现出空间对称分布趋势进而形成微孔洞;采用高通量分子动力学模拟系统研究了不同尺寸的空位团簇在拉应力作用下对变形过程的影响,发现这些空位团簇可以形成层错,并对微裂纹的形核产生影响.     

Migration behaviour of vacancies and damage structure recovery in a Fe-based Fe-Cr-Mn-Cu-Mo multi-component alloy

ABSTRACT

A Fe-based multi-component alloy, 60Fe-12Cr-10Mn-15Cu-3Mo, which presents higher yield stress than typical stainless steels (such as 304, 316, and 340), was used to investigate the thermal stability of irradiation-induced defects. Neutron irradiation was carried out at approximately 323 and 643?K using up to 1.3 × 10^?3 and 4.5 × 10^?4 dpa (displacements per atom), respectively. While no defects were accumulated at the high temperature of 643?K, single vacancies were formed after irradiation at the low temperature of 323?K to 1.3 × 10^?3 dpa, and the vacancies became mobile at 423?K. As a result, vacancy clusters were formed. However, as the annealing temperature increased the size of vacancy clusters decreased. Coincidence Doppler broadening measurements indicated that Cu precipitates were the sites of vacancy cluster formation, and the recovery of vacancy clusters became prominent while annealing the irradiated sample at temperatures higher than 423?K. Recovery of vacancy clusters at 573?K, which was not a high temperature, was also observed even in the sample that was irradiated using 2.5?MeV Fe ions at room temperature to 0.6 dpa at damage peak.     

New mechanism of irradiation creep based on the radiation-induced vacancy emission from dislocations

A new mechanism of irradiation creep is proposed, which is based on the radiation and stress induced difference in emission (RSIDE) of vacancies from dislocations of different orientations with respect to the external stress. This phenomenon is due to the difference in vacancy formation energies, which is proportional to the external stress. The proposed model exhibits similarities with thermal creep models and it is distinct from stress-induced preferential absorption (SIPA) models based on the difference in the long-range interaction of point defects with dislocations. The RSIDE creep rate is essentially temperature independent and is proportional to the dislocation density, stress and irradiation flux. It is inversely proportional to the square of the vacancy formation energy, which is lower than the Frenkel pair formation energy. Experimental verification of the proposed model is discussed on the basis of the measurements of vacancy concentration and creep rate under sub-threshold electron irradiation.