Enhanced helium ion irradiation tolerance in a Fe-Co-Ni-Cr-Al-Ti high-entropy alloy with L12 nanoparticles

Abstract

• Helium bubbles and large stacking faulted loops are observed as the dominant structural damage in the He ion irradiated HEA reinforced by L1 2 nanoparticles. • The L1 2 nanoparticles provide numerous interfaces for He entrapment and damage elimination, which suppresses He bubble growth. • A correlative TEM/APT characterization reveals that the RIS around He bubbles is dominated by the inverse Kirkendall mechanism. • Irradiation-induced dissolution and re-precipitation of the L1 2 nanoparticles can retain the main microstructure of the L1 2 -strengthened HEA and provide a sustainable irradiation resistance. L1 2 -strengthened high entropy alloys (HEAs) with excellent room and high-temperature mechanical properties have been proposed as promising candidates as structural materials for advanced nuclear systems. However, knowledge about their radiation response is fairly limited. In the present work, a novel HEA with a high density of L1 2 nanoparticles was irradiated with He ion at 500°C. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT) were employed to study the evolution of microstructural stability and radiation-induced segregation. Similar to the single-phase FeCoNiCr HEA, the main microstructural features were numerous large faulted dislocation loops and helium bubbles. While the irradiation resistance of the present L1 2 -strengthened HEA is much improved in terms of reduced bubble size, which could be attributed to the considerable He trapping efficiency of the coherent precipitate/matrix interface and the enhanced capability of the interface for damage elimination when the matrix channel width is narrow. APT analysis revealed that an inverse Kirkendall mechanism-dominated radiation-induced segregation (RIS) occurs around bubbles, where a significant Co enrichment and Ni depletion can be clearly observed. In addition, the competing dynamics of ballistic mixing and elemental clustering that raised from the irradiation-enhanced diffusion in a highly supersaturated matrix, along with the low precipitation nucleation barrier due to the small lattice misfit, lead to a dynamical precipitation dissolution and re-precipitation appears under irradiation. Such a promising phenomenon is expected to promote a potential self-healing effect and could in turn provide a sustainable irradiation tolerance over the operational lifetime of a reactor.