Evolution of gas-filled nanocracks in crystalline solids

In this work, the evolution of gas-filled cracks under gas implantation and subsequent annealing is studied on the basis of an elastic continuum approach. The observed growth limitation of He-filled nanocracks in SiC is attributed to their stabilization by the formation of circular dislocation dipoles. The formation and Ostwald ripening of bubble-loop complexes at elevated temperatures is modeled in terms of gas atom exchange between such complexes coupled with local matrix atom exchange between bubbles and loops of the same complex. The scaling laws derived for the time dependence of bubble and loop sizes are found to be in good agreement with experimental data.