Swift heavy ion irradiation effects in zirconium and hafnium carbides
Williams E. Minnette J. OQuinn E. Solomon A. Overstreet C. Cureton W.F. Schubert I. Trautman C. Park C. Zdorovets M. Lang M.
March 2024Elsevier B.V.
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
2024#548
The behavior of microcrystalline zirconium carbide (ZrC) and hafnium carbide (HfC) was studied under highly ionizing irradiation conditions at room temperature. The induced structural modifications were characterized via synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction experiments. Unit-cell expansion and buildup of microstrain were determined across a wide fluence range and linked to chemical compositions of the target material. The observed swelling resulting from irradiation with 198 MeV Xe ions in both carbide materials is characterized by two distinct mechanisms that operate within different fluence regimes. Unit-cell expansion initially proceeds by a direct-impact behavior that reaches saturation, followed at higher fluences by a second, linear swelling regime. The overall behavior, particularly the direct-impact regime, is similar for ZrC and HfC, with a more pronounced second defect accumulation process in HfC. Swelling in ZrC shows the same two distinct mechanisms upon irradiation with 198 MeV Xe ions and 946 MeV Au ions, but swelling induced by the lower-energy ions is greater across the entire fluence series. Accounting for the difference in energy deposition density between the two irradiation conditions reveals that the first swelling mechanism (direct-impact behavior) is likely related to the formation of more simple defects. In contrast, the second damaging mechanism at higher fluences (linear increase) cannot be fully explained by the induced energy density, and swelling remains somewhat higher for the low-velocity Xe irradiation. This may suggest that more complex defects and defect clusters are responsible for this swelling regime, with either their size and/or morphology modified at different energy densities.
Carbides , Energy density , HfC , Swelling , Swift heavy ions , Synchrotron X-rays , Velocity effect , XRD , ZrC
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Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 37996, TN, United States
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, 37830, TN, United States
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, 64291, Germany
Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, 64287, Germany
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, United States
Institute of Nuclear Physics, Almaty, 050032, Kazakhstan
L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, 010008, Kazakhstan
Department of Nuclear Engineering
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Argonne National Laboratory
Institute of Nuclear Physics
L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
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