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Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2022) | Viewed by 16009

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Vladimir Krsjak

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Guest Editor

Institute of Nuclear and Physical Engineering, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Interests: nondestructive testing (NDT); radiation effects in solids; irradiation experiments; ion irradiation; helium embrittlement; spallation target materials; positron annihilation spectroscopy; nanostructured alloys

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of new materials for the next generation of advanced nuclear technology brings about the need for suitable irradiation experiments and reliable/reproducible post-irradiation examination (PIE). The standardized testing of activated materials in hot-cell facilities might still be considered unavoidable for nuclear power reactor development, yet exposure to fission neutron radiation cannot adequately simulate the radiation environments of nuclear fusion or spallation neutron sources. For this reason, considerable effort has been devoted to the use of ion bombardment as a surrogate for neutron irradiation and to develop new, innovative methods for material characterization. The use of particle accelerators to simulate harsh radiation environments provides an easily controlled radiation environment which enables us to isolate and study the effects of temperature, displacement damage rate, or to effectively simulate transmutation reactions in materials. These desirable features of ion implantation experiments are, however, counterbalanced by a non-uniform damage profile, which either requires variable-energy ion implantation or a special depth-sensitive characterization technique. In the latter case, the profile advantageously enables us to probe very different damage regions within the sample, providing a large number of data points from a single irradiation experiment. Numerous recent studies indicate that a considerable step forward in the understanding of material performance in extreme environments can be achieved by a combination of principally different experimental approaches used in the same irradiation study. To improve our knowledge of the comprehensive synergistic effects of individual environmental and material variables, it is necessary to conduct very rigorous and repeatable irradiation experiments evaluated by characterization techniques which provide unique yet reproducible results. At the same time, it is essential to share the latest innovations, developments, and applications effectively and to reach the right professional audience.

This Special Issue of Materials aims at advancing the current knowledge in ion irradiation studies and innovative material characterization. Especially welcome are research papers that address ion beam irradiation of materials for functional and structural nuclear components, innovative materials for nuclear applications, and advanced techniques for the characterization of ion beam modified materials. The journal accepts original research papers as well as review articles summarizing recent progress in the field.

Dr. Vladimir Krsjak
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

radiation damage
ion irradiation
ion beam modification
displacement cascade
point defects
bubble nucleation
void swelling
irradiation tolerance
nuclear materials
nondestructive testing
microstructural characterization methods

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 2352 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Proton Irradiation in the Study of Accelerated Radiation Ageing in a GaAs Semiconductor

by Igor Neuhold, Pavol Noga, Stanislav Sojak, Martin Petriska, Jarmila Degmova, Vladimir Slugen and Vladimir Krsjak

Materials 2023, 16(3), 1089; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16031089 - 27 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1071

Abstract

Proton irradiation experiments have been used as a surrogate for studying radiation effects in numerous materials for decades. The abundance and accessibility of proton accelerators make this approach convenient for conducting accelerated radiation ageing studies. However, developing new materials with improved radiation stability requires numerous model materials, test samples, and very effective utilization of the accelerator beam time. Therefore, the question of optimal beam current, or particle flux, is critical and needs to be adequately understood. In this work, we used 5 MeV protons to introduce displacement damage in gallium arsenide samples using a wide range of flux values. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy was used to quantitatively assess the concentration of radiation-induced survived vacancies. The results show that proton fluxes in range between 10¹¹ and 10¹² cm⁻².s⁻¹ lead to a similar concentration of monovacancies generated in the GaAs semiconductor material, while a further increase in the flux leads to a sharp drop in this concentration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials)

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21 pages, 18566 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Positron Annihilation Study of RPV Steels Radiation Loaded by Hydrogen Ion Implantation

by Vladimir Slugen, Tomas Brodziansky, Jana Simeg Veternikova, Stanislav Sojak, Martin Petriska, Robert Hinca and Gabriel Farkas

Materials 2022, 15(20), 7091; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15207091 - 12 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1149

Abstract

Specimens of 15Kh2MFAA steel used for reactor pressure vessels V-213 (VVER-440 reactor) were studied by positron annihilation techniques in terms of their radiation resistance and structural recovery after thermal treatment. The radiation load was simulated by experimental implantation of 500 keV H⁺ ions. The maximum radiation damage of 1 DPA was obtained across a region of 3 µm. Radiation-induced defects were investigated by coincidence Doppler broadening spectroscopy and positron lifetime spectroscopy using a conventional positron source as well as a slow positron beam. All techniques registered an accumulation of small open-volume defects (mostly mono- and di-vacancies) due to the irradiation, with an increase of the defect volume ΔV_D ≈ 2.88 × 10⁻⁸ cm⁻³. Finally, the irradiated specimens were gradually annealed at temperatures from 200 to 550 °C and analyzed in detail. The best defect recovery was found at a temperature between 450 and 475 °C, but the final defect concentration of about ΔC_D = 0.34 ppm was still higher than in the as-received specimens. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials)

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14 pages, 3028 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel BCC-Structure Zr-Nb-Ti Medium-Entropy Alloys (MEAs) with Excellent Structure and Irradiation Resistance

by Zhenqian Su, Zhaodong Quan, Tielong Shen, Peng Jin, Jing Li, Shiwen Hu and Dexue Liu

Materials 2022, 15(19), 6565; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15196565 - 22 Sep 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1171

Abstract

Medium-entropy alloys (MEAs) are prospective structural materials for emerging advanced nuclear systems because of their outstanding mechanical properties and irradiation resistance. In this study, the microstructure and mechanical properties of three new single-phase body-centered cubic (BCC) structured MEAs (Zr₄₀Nb₃₅Ti₂₅, Zr₅₀Nb₃₅Ti₁₅, and Zr₆₀Nb₃₅Ti₅) before and after irradiation were investigated. It is shown that the yield strength and elongation after fracture at room temperature are greater than 900 MPa and 10%, respectively. Three MEAs were irradiated with 3 MeV Fe¹¹⁺ ions to 8 × 10¹⁵ and 2.5 × 10¹⁶ ions/cm² at temperatures of 300 and 500 °C, to investigate the irradiation-induced hardening and microstructure changes. Compared with most conventional alloys, the three MEAs showed only negligible irradiation hardening and even softening in some cases. After irradiation, they exhibit somewhat surprising lattice constant reduction, and the microstructure contains small dislocation loops. Neither cavities nor precipitates were observed. This indicates that the MEAs have better irradiation resistance than traditional alloys, which can be attributed to the high-entropy and lattice distortion effect of MEAs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials)

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8 pages, 2978 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High-Fluence Multi-Energy Ion Irradiation for Testing of Materials

by Pavol Noga, Zoltán Száraz, Matej Kubiš, Jozef Dobrovodský, Filip Ferenčík, Róbert Riedlmajer and Vladimir Krsjak

Materials 2022, 15(18), 6443; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15186443 - 16 Sep 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1249

Abstract

Structural materials of the new generation of nuclear reactors, fission as well as fusion, must often cope with high production rates of transmutation helium. Their testing hence requires either a powerful source of fast neutrons or a high-fluence ion-irradiation facility providing sufficient amounts of high-energy helium to investigate its effect on the material. Most ion irradiation studies, however, concentrate on basic effects such as defect evolution or bubble swelling in narrow near-surface regions modified by ion bombardment. Studies on bulk samples with a relatively thick implanted region, which would enable, for instance, micromechanical testing, are underrepresented. This gap might be filled by high-fluence multi-energy ion irradiations modifying several tens of micrometres of the investigated substrate. High-energy ion accelerators providing reasonable currents with energies of tens of MeV are rarely employed in such studies due to their scarcity or considerable beamtime costs. To contribute to this field, this article reports a unique single-beam He implantation experiment aimed at obtaining quasi-uniform displacement damage across >60 μm with the He/dpa ratio roughly one order of magnitude above the typical spallation neutron target irradiation conditions. Some technical aspects of this irradiation experiment, along with recent developments and upgrades at the 6 MV Tandetron accelerator of the Slovak university of technology in Bratislava, are presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials)

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16 pages, 4458 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Radiation Resistance of Polystyrene Using Molecular Dynamics Simulation

by Yeong-Heum Yeon, Ha-Eun Shim, Jin-Hyung Park, Nam-Ho Lee, Jae-Yeon Park, Moon-Sik Chae, Jung-Ho Mun, Jae-Hyun Lee and Hui-Jeong Gwon

Materials 2022, 15(1), 346; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15010346 - 04 Jan 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1735

Abstract

The scission rates of polystyrene and fluorinated polystyrene irradiated in an irradiation facility with Co-60 γ-rays were determined using molecular dynamics simulation and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) molecular weight distributions. The prediction was based on the assumption that γ-ray energy is transferred to the initial velocity of the primary knock-on atom. We employed a molecular dynamics simulation procedure to compute the changes in bond length between the connections for selected values of the absorbed dose and compared the calculated values with measurements made on the irradiated samples. The samples were exposed to four different absorbed doses of 25, 50, 75, and 100 kGy. The scission process and scission ratio were simulated with LAMMPS with ReaxFF potential for each bond, and we compared the simulation results with the experimental data especially measuring average molecular weight to evaluate the effect of fluorination on radiation enhancement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials)

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12 pages, 1924 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Preliminary Study on the Simulation of a Radiation Damage Analysis of Biodegradable Polymers

by Ha-Eun Shim, Yeong-Heum Yeon, Dae-Hee Lim, You-Ree Nam, Jin-Hyung Park, Nam-Ho Lee and Hui-Jeong Gwon

Materials 2021, 14(22), 6777; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14226777 - 10 Nov 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1551

Abstract

In this study, biodegradable poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) and poly(L-co-d,l lactide) (PLDLA) were evaluated using Geant4 (G4EmStandardPhysics_option4) for damage simulation, in order to predict the safety of these biodegradable polymers against gamma ray sterilization. In the PLCL damage model, both chain scission and crosslinking reactions appear to occur at a radiation dose in the range 0–200 kGy, but the chain cleavage reaction is expected to be relatively dominant at high irradiation doses above 500 kGy. On the other hand, the PLDLA damage model predicted that the chain cleavage reaction would prevail at the total irradiation dose (25–500 kGy). To verify the simulation results, the physicochemical changes in the irradiated PLCL and PLDLA films were characterized by GPC (gel permeation chromatography), ATR-FTIR (attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared), and DSC (difference scanning calorimetry) analyses. The Geant4 simulation curve for the radiation-induced damage to the molecular weight was consistent with the experimentally obtained results. These results imply that the pre-simulation study can be useful for predicting the optimal irradiation dose and ensuring material safety, particularly for implanted biodegradable materials in radiation processing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials)

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7 pages, 6281 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bubble Swelling in Ferritic/Martensitic Steels Exposed to Radiation Environment with High Production Rate of Helium

by Stanislav Sojak, Jarmila Degmova, Pavol Noga, Vladimir Krsjak, Vladimir Slugen and Tielong Shen

Materials 2021, 14(11), 2997; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14112997 - 01 Jun 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1832

Abstract

Reduced-activativon ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels are prospective structural materials for fission/fusion nuclear applications because their radiation and swelling resistance outperforms their austenitic counterparts. In radiation environments with a high production rate of helium, such as fusion or spallation applications, these materials suffer from non-negligible swelling due to the inhibited recombination between vacancy and interstitial-type defects. In this work, swelling in helium-implanted Eurofer 97 steel is investigated with a focus on helium production rates in a wide range of helium/dpa ratios. The results show virtually no swelling incubation period preceding a steady-state swelling of about 2 × 10⁻⁴%/He-appm/dpa. A saturation of swelling above 5000 He-appm/dpa was observed and attributed to helium bubbles becoming the dominant sinks for new vacancies and helium atoms. Despite a relatively low irradiation temperature (65 ± 5 °C) and a rather high concentration of helium, transmission electron microscope (TEM) results confirmed a microstructure typical of ferritic/martensitic steels exposed to radiation environments with high production rates of helium. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials)

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11 pages, 16238 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison between Subsequent Irradiation and Co-Irradiation into SIMP Steel

by Yong Wang, Tongmin Zhang, Qing Liao, Junyuan Yang, Weigang Gu, Yongfei Ren, Zheng Jia and Bingsheng Li

Materials 2021, 14(6), 1393; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14061393 - 12 Mar 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1477

Abstract

A modern Chinese ferritic/martensitic steel SIMP, is a new perspective nuclear structural material for the spallation target in accelerator driven sub-critical system. In this work, aimed at exploring the radiation resistance properties of this material, we investigate the differences between simultaneous Fe and He ions irradiation and He implantation of SIMP steel pre-irradiated by Fe self-ions. The irradiations were performed at 300 °C. The radiation-induced hardening was evaluated by nano-indentation, while the lattice disorder was investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Clear differences were found in the material microstructure after the two kinds of the ion irradiation performed. Helium cavities were observed in the co-irradiated SIMP steel, but not the case of He implantation with Fe pre-irradiation. In the same time, the size and density of Frank loops were different in the two different irradiation conditions. The reason for the different observed lattice disorders is discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials)

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13 pages, 3366 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Lattice Defects and Exfoliation Efficiency of 6H-SiC via H₂⁺ Implantation at Elevated Temperature

by Tao Wang, Zhen Yang, Bingsheng Li, Shuai Xu, Qing Liao, Fangfang Ge, Tongmin Zhang and Jun Li

Materials 2020, 13(24), 5723; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma13245723 - 15 Dec 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1549

Abstract

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an important material used in semiconductor industries and nuclear power plants. SiC wafer implanted with H ions can be cleaved inside the damaged layer after annealing, in order to facilitate the transfer of a thin SiC slice to a handling wafer. This process is known as “ion-cut” or “Smart-Cut”. It is worth investigating the exfoliation efficiency and residual lattice defects in H-implanted SiC before and after annealing. In the present paper, lattice damage in the 6H-SiC implanted by H₂⁺ to a fluence of 5 × 10¹⁶ H₂⁺/cm² at 450 and 900 °C was investigated by a combination of Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Different levels of damage caused by dynamic annealing were observed by Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy in the as-implanted sample. Atomic force microscopy and scanning white-light interferometry were used to observe the sample surface morphology. Surface blisters and exfoliations were observed in the sample implanted at 450 °C and then annealed at 1100 °C for 15 min, whereas surface blisters and exfoliation occurred in the sample implanted at 900 °C without further thermal treatment. This finding can be attributed to the increase in the internal pressure of platelets during high temperature implantation. The exfoliation efficiency, location, and roughness after exfoliation were investigated and possible reasons were discussed. This work provides a basis for further understanding and improving the high-efficiency “ion-cut” technology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials)

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Review

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30 pages, 4361 KiB

Open AccessReview

Application of Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy in Accelerator-Based Irradiation Experiments

by Vladimir Krsjak, Jarmila Degmova, Pavol Noga, Martin Petriska, Stanislav Sojak, Matus Saro, Igor Neuhold and Vladimir Slugen

Materials 2021, 14(21), 6238; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14216238 - 20 Oct 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2038

Abstract

Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) is widely recognized as a powerful characterization technique in all types of radiation damage studies in nuclear materials. In the past, fission reactor irradiation of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels was a primary aim in most studies, while today’s applications of PAS in this field are centered around ion implantation experiments in advanced structural materials. These experiments use hydrogen, helium, heavy ions, and their combination to simulate various radiation environments of future nuclear reactors or nuclear research facilities. The spectrum of ion energies used ranges from a few tens of keV to tens or even hundreds of MeV in proton irradiation or spallation neutron source irradiation experiments. The variety of ion energies, irradiation temperatures, and other experimental conditions poses a major challenge to researchers, who often fail to successfully incorporate the lessons learned from their research. In this paper, we review and supplement recent PAS studies in which structural materials irradiated under a variety of irradiation conditions were investigated using positron annihilation spectroscopy. It summarizes the most important conclusions and lessons learned from the application of PAS in accelerator-based irradiation experiments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental Simulation and Characterization of Radiation Damage in Materials)

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