Abstract
Materials with a high density of heterophase interfaces, which are capable of absorbing and annihilating radiation-induced point defects, can exhibit a superior radiation tolerance. In this paper, we investigated the interaction behaviors of point defects and heterophase interfaces by implanting helium atoms into the ZrN/TaN multilayered nanofilms. It was found that the point defect-interface interaction on the two sides of the ZrN/TaN interface was asymmetric, likely due to the difference in the vacancy formation energies of ZrN and TaN. The helium bubbles could migrate from the ZrN layers into the TaN layers through the heterophase interfaces, resulting in a better crystallinity of the ZrN layers and a complete amorphization of the TaN layers. The findings provided some clues to the fundamental behaviors of point defects near the heterophase interfaces, which make us re-examine the design rules of advanced radiation-tolerant materials.
Highlights
Uniform on the two sides of the heterophase interfaces[21]
The results provided some clues to the fundamental behaviors of point defects near the heterophase interfaces, which could guide the design of more stable radiation-tolerant materials
The interfaces serving as an effective sink to the point defects could assist the vacancy-interstitial recombination near the interfaces[16,21]
Summary
Uniform on the two sides of the heterophase interfaces[21]. Cu interstitials were preferentially absorbed into the heterophase interfaces while little absorption of the interstitials on the Nb side was observed. The emission range of the interstitials from the two phases was not uniform[21] These simulation models provide some insight into the nature of the point defects interactions with the interfaces, there is still a large gap between the atomistic simulations and implementation of the predictions in the microstructure or property in engineering processes, due to the limit of the accuracy of computer simulation in larger time- and length-scales[5]. Helium can bind strongly with vacancies in materials to form He-vacancy clusters[25,26] The He bubble or void can be observed as long as the He-vacancy cluster grows above a critical size (1~2 nm)[7]. We designed ceramic multilayered nanofilms of ZrN/TaN, in which He was implanted uniformly during the films deposition, to investigate experimentally the interacting behaviors of the heterophase interfaces and the point defects. The results provided some clues to the fundamental behaviors of point defects near the heterophase interfaces, which could guide the design of more stable radiation-tolerant materials
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