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.
Highlights
The experimental simulation of the harsh radiation environments of future nuclear fission and fusion reactors requires compromises to be made on the selection of bombarding particles and parameters such as flux, energy spectrum, or the production of transmutation elements and the change in the chemical composition of the target material
Among the numerous analytical techniques used in material irradiation studies [1,2,3], positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) is well known for its spectacular sensitivity to atomic-scale vacancy-type defects, and it has been widely used in the past [4]
This paper addresses the application of Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) techniques in the characterization of materials exposed to different types of irradiation experiments
Summary
The experimental simulation of the harsh radiation environments of future nuclear fission and fusion reactors requires compromises to be made on the selection of bombarding particles and parameters such as flux, energy spectrum, or the production of transmutation elements and the change in the chemical composition of the target material. While three-detector positron lifetime spectrometers [20] and a coincidence setup of Doppler broadening spectrometers [21] can potentially solve this problem, the deviations in the geometry and activity of the used positron sources, as well as in the isotopic composition of the measured samples, affect the effectivity of this solution Another source of discrepancy between different PAS characterizations, for instance, ion-implanted samples, comes from the lack of consensus in the data evaluation. This paper addresses the application of PAS techniques in the characterization of materials exposed to different types of irradiation experiments It reviews recent studies in the field, and provides some empirical support for exploiting the full potential of positron annihilation spectroscopy in nuclear material research
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