Electrical resistivity measurement of Fe-0.6%Cu alloy irradiated by neutrons at 14–19 K

Abstract

Electrical resistivity measurement is a useful experimental method for investigating the recovery of defects that are induced by irradiation in metals and alloys. In this study, an Fe-0.6%Cu alloy, used to model steel from old commercial reactor pressure vessels, was irradiated by neutrons at a low temperature range of 14–19 K with a dose of about 1.3 × 1020 neutrons/m2 (E > 0.1 MeV) in the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR); electrical resistivity measurement was performed during irradiation and after annealing of the irradiated sample from 20 K to 300 K to investigate the migration of point defects in the Fe-0.6%Cu alloy. The electrical resistivity was measured at 14–19 K. With the increase in the irradiation dose, the electrical resistivity increased linearly. Four peaks appeared at 70 K, 100 K, 150 K, and 260 K, in the change of electrical resistivity during annealing of the irradiated sample up to 300 K. The former two peaks were caused by the recombination of interstitials and vacancies, and the latter two peaks were caused by the formation of interstitial clusters and the migration of vacancies. Compared with previous electron irradiation results, the former two peaks represent new data, as does the ratio of recombination caused by close-pair and correlation to that caused by migrations of mixed-interstitials Fe–Cu and vacancies decreased in neutron irradiation.