Radiation-Induced Effects on Microstructure

Irradiation of materials with particles that are sufficiently energetic to create atomic displacements can induce significant microstructural alteration, ranging from crystalline-to-amorphous phase transitions to the generation of large concentrations of point defect or solute aggregates in crystalline lattices. These microstructural changes typically cause significant changes in the physical and mechanical properties of the irradiated material. A variety of advanced microstructural characterization tools are available to examine the microstructural changes induced by particle irradiation, including electron microscopy, atom probe field ion microscopy, X-ray scattering and spectrometry, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, nuclear reaction analysis, and neutron scattering and spectrometry. Numerous reviews, which summarize the microstructural changes in materials associated with electron and heavy ion or neutron irradiation, have been published. These reviews have focused on pure metals as well as model alloys, steels, and ceramic materials. In this chapter, the commonly observed defect cluster morphologies produced by particle irradiation are summarized and an overview is presented on some of the key physical parameters that have a major influence on microstructural evolution of irradiated materials. The relationship between microstructural changes and evolution of physical and mechanical properties is then summarized, with particular emphasis on eight key radiation-induced property degradation phenomena. Typical examples of irradiated microstructures of metals and ceramic materials are presented. Radiation-induced changes in the microstructure of organic materials such as polymers are not discussed in this overview