The temperature dependence of heavy-ion damage in iron: a microstructural transition at elevated temperatures

Zhongwen Yao (1) , Mike Jenkins (1) , Mercedes Hernández-Mayoral (2) , Mark Kirk (3)

1 Materials
2 Division of Materials
3 Materials Science Division

We describe a transition in the dislocation microstructure of pure Fe produced by heavy-ion irradiation of thin foils which took place between irradiation temperatures T_irr of 300^oC and 500^oC. At T_irr ≤ 400^oC, the microstructure was dominated by round or irregular non-edge dislocation loops of interstitial nature and with Burgers vectors b = ½<111>, although interstitial <100> loops were also present; at 500^oC only rectilinear pure-edge <100> loops occurred. At intermediate temperatures there was a gradual transition between the two types of microstructure. At temperatures just below 500^oC, mobile ½<111> loops were seen to be subsumed by sessile <100> loops. A possible explanation of these observations is given.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Zhongwen Yao, Mike Jenkins, Mercedes Hernández-Mayoral, Mark Kirk. The temperature dependence of heavy-ion damage in iron: a microstructural transition at elevated temperatures. Philosophical Magazine, 2010, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/14786430903430981⟩. ⟨hal-00592593⟩