In situ and tomographic observations of defect free channel formation in ion irradiated stainless steels

The effects of heavy-ion irradiation on dislocation processes in stainless steels were investigated using in situ irradiation and deformation in the transmission electron microscope as well as post mortem electron tomography to retrieve information on the three-dimensional dislocation state. Irradiation-induced defects were found to pose a strong collective barrier to dislocation motion, leading to dislocation pileups forming in grain interiors and at grain boundaries. The passage of multiple dislocations along the same slip plane removes the irradiation defects and leads to the eventual formation of a defect-free channel. These channels are composed of densely tangled dislocation networks which line the channel-matrix walls as well as residual dislocation debris in the channel interiors. The structures of the dislocation tangles were found to be similar to those encountered in later stages of deformation in unirradiated materials, with the exception that they developed earlier in the deformation process and were confined to the defect free channels. Also, defect free channels were found to widen through both source widening as well as complex cross-slip mechanisms.